Love Story
by VibeQuake
Summary: My name is Perry the Platypus. Yesterday, I was OWCA's best agent with a spotless mission record. Today, I was defeated by LOVEMUFFIN's new weapon: a female platypus. The worst part? Now I think I have feelings for this enemy platypus...but even if she likes me back, how can there be any hope of romance blooming if we're firmly on opposite sides?
1. Chapter 1

"Yes!" hissed Perry, slapping down his cards. "I got twenty-one! Beat that!"

Victor the Otter placed a hand to his forehead and dropped his cards frustratedly on the table. "Perry, we're playing Rummy."

"I know, but I have no clue how to play that so I'm playing Hit Twenty-One."

"How do you not know how to play Rummy?" Victor asked exasperatedly. "We've explained the rules to you more than ten times!"

"Cards isn't really my thing," Perry replied. "It's not energy-consuming like Double Dutch or exciting like training. I just play along because there's nothing else to do."

"There's planning who you're going to ask to the OWCA hundredth anniversary party," Christina the Bobcat said, rearranging her cards in her paw. "Karen or Maggie?"

"Who says I like either of them like that?" retorted Perry. "Besides…Maggie's going with Harry."

Victor snorted. "THAT'LL end well."

"Why won't it?" Christina asked innocently.

"Um…have you SEEN their team's training sessions?" Victor leant back in his chair and put his hands lazily behind his head. "They argue more than they train. And no offense to Peter, but if even OWCA's best agent couldn't whip them into shape, how can he hope to?"

"Thanks," Perry grinned.

"No offense to you. But you tried, didn't you?"

"Apparently "tried" is the operative word," Christina inputted, finally laying her cards down on the table. "Only Karen can calm Maggie down when she's angry…when she's not busy being mindless, that is."

"Who, Karen?" Perry leant back like Victor and rested his feet on the table, next to his cards. "Yeah, nobody knows why she acts so mindless. She could probably floor both Harry AND Maggie at the same time but she insists on playing mindless."

"How do you know it's just playing?" asked Christina.

"Because we've all seen her as she normally is," Perry replied. "She can be very normal, just like the rest of us. But's she's quite stubborn so the rest of us just roll with it when she acts mindless."

"So who are you thinking of going with, Christina?" Victor asked.

"To the party? I've already been asked," Christina said absently.

Victor sat bolt upright and stared at her in surprise. "What? By who?"

"Terry."

Victor scowled and muttered something about turtle soup as he leant back in his chair again. Perry stared at his friend in slight worry.

"Why do you care so much?" Christina asked. "Aren't you going with anyone?"

"No," Victor said quietly.

Perry felt sorry for his friend so he patted the otter on the shoulder. "Hey, how about the two of us go together as loners?"

"Sure," chuckled Victor. "The loners who can't get a date."

Christina stood up and stretched. "Well, I better go. Tess is taking me dress shopping."

"The party isn't for another ten days," pointed out Perry.

"But I need the perfect outfit," Christina argued mildly. "A girl's gotta look good for her date." Perry saw Victor scowl again at this. "And besides, you know how Tess can be."

"Do you mean Tess the Trowel or Tess the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever?" asked Perry.

Christina stared at Perry. "The…second one. What on Earth is Tess the Trowel?"

"A rather unkind prank that someone played on Tess the Toller last year," replied Victor lazily.

"Oh." Christina gave her friends an amused look. "Well, see you later."

"See you," Perry said.

Victor said nothing. He didn't move until Christina had left the recreation hall, then he stood up and swiped Christina's cards off the table, muttering angrily about something that Perry couldn't quite pick up.

"Why didn't you ask her to the party?" Perry inquired.

"Why would I?" demanded Victor, putting the cards away.

"Dude, stop acting." Perry raised an eyebrow. "It's painfully obvious that your sudden and uncharacteristic burst of hatred towards Terry is stemmed from jealousy."

"I'm not jealous."

Perry scoffed. "Yeah, and my fur isn't teal."

Victor turned his head on one side and looked at his friend. "Actually, in a certain light, it looks more of a green."

"Victor, just admit it. You like Christina."

"Well, sure I LIKE her…"

Perry rolled his eyes and nudged his friend. "You know what I meant. Actually, you know what? I'm not so sure you DO know what I meant. You like her. In _that_ way."

"If you're saying I have feelings for Christina, forget it," Victor snapped. "I like her as a friend and that's all."

"Really?" Perry drew out the word, sitting back in his chair and regarding his best friend with a disbelieving face. "Then how do you explain your random burst of hatred towards Terry as soon as Christina said she was going to the party with him?"

Victor casually dropped his pack of cards on the table and said nothing.

"You can deny it all you want but I know. Nobody would react like that for nothing. You have feelings for Christina."

"Okay, I do!" Victor suddenly shouted. "I do have feelings for Christina! I don't know if it's love but I don't like the idea of her going to the party with someone else. There, happy?"

Perry gazed into his friend's angry face. "Yep," he replied. "I'm joking. But seriously, you need to tell her how you feel."

"What's the point?" Victor flopped hopelessly into his chair. "She doesn't feel the same."

"How do you know?"

Victor frowned, looking confused. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

Perry just rolled his eyes again and stood up. "I need to check in with Major Monogram and make sure I'm not needed on any missions. Then I'm going home early."

"It's only because you're OWCA's top agent that you get to go home early," grumbled Victor as Perry left, giving a backwards wave as he went.

...

 **Codename: Agent 13**

 **Species: platypus**

 **Skills: advanced strength, skill, speed, and agility.**

 **Weapon of choice: scythe**

 **Directive: destroy Perry the Platypus**

* * *

 ***LE GASP*!**


	2. Chapter 2

Victor sat on the chair behind his desk. His fingers were resting on the keyboard of his computer but he wasn't typing anything. He was just thinking, trying to figure out once and for all if he had feelings for Christina. So far, the jury was still out.

He looked at the clock for the time: just after six pm. Technically, OWCA agents were supposed to be in the office from seven am to seven pm but OWCA's five top agents were allowed to leave early if they told Major Monogram first. Victor actually had no idea whether he was in OWCA's top five or not but he didn't want to risk it.

Eventually he decided to give himself a break. He got up off his chair and left his office. On his way to the water cooler, he came into contact with Terry the Turtle. He had been planning to give Terry a scowl as he passed, but he was surprised when Terry gave HIM a scowl. "What's _your_ problem?" Victor asked.

Terry just ignored him and turned the corner.

Victor frowned, standing in the middle of the corridor. He didn't understand why Terry had glared at him. Seeing as Victor hadn't done anything personally to the turtle, he had to assume that it was something to do with Christina. But why Terry was annoyed with him about Christina, he had no idea.

Unbeknownst to him, Perry was also thinking about Christina. Back at home, he was wondering if Christina actually did have feelings for Victor. He knew how the otter felt about the bobcat, but he wished he knew if Christina returned those feelings.

Realising he was driving himself crazy thinking about it, Perry settled down in his bed to go to sleep. He was just drifting off when his watch began beeping. Stifling a sigh, he answered the call. "Sorry to call you in so late, Agent P," said Major Monogram's voice. "But it seems that Doctor Doofenshmirtz has activated some kind of –inator. We'll need you to get over there and smash it."

Perry sighed aloud and got up. Being careful not to wake Phineas and Ferb—who were unaware of his double life—he snuck out of the room. Going down a pipe to his lair, he grabbed his flying scooter and took off.

When he got to DEI, he flew through a newly created hole in the roof and landed his scooter. He always felt a little paranoid when setting foot in DEI after hours.

"Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!" sang four voices.

Perry jumped three feet into the air with fright.  
He glared at the Slacks, who had appeared out of nowhere. "After hours…" they finished.

"Little late tonight, aren't we, guys?" Perry glared at them.

"We didn't expect you so late," said the leader, shrugging.

Perry got out his torch and, switching it on, investigated the lab. There seemed to be nobody there, until Perry rounded a corner and saw Heinz Doofenshmirtz, dressed in his pyjamas, standing out on the balcony next to a massive –inator. He seemed on-edge, and when Perry went out onto the balcony behind him and chattered, Heinz spun round in fright. "O-oh, Perry the Platypus…"

Perry gave his nemesis a suspicious look. "How come you haven't trapped me yet?" he demanded.

Heinz looked very uncomfortable and nervous about something as he struggled to reply. "Is everything okay?" Perry asked.

"Y-yeah. I-I haven't taken my sleep m-meds yet so I'm a b-bit on ed-edge."

Perry frowned, getting even more suspicious. "What-?"

All of a sudden, something hit into Perry and sent him flying into the wall. He scrambled to his feet and looked up into the scared face of his nemesis.

Then a small figure landed lightly in front of him. It was a platypus. A pink platypus. A female platypus. She looked the same age as Perry, who was thoroughly stunned and was unable to move when she launched herself at him. The platypus bowled Perry over and pushed him to the ground on his front, holding his arms as if she was arresting him.

Perry heard someone slow-clapping. He managed to look up and he spotted a familiar figure emerging slowly from the shadows. "Rodney," spat Perry.

"Agent Perry the Platypus," Rodney said, grinning maniacally. "I see you've met Agent Thirteen."

"Her name is Naomi," snapped Heinz from over on the balcony.

"Her official name is Naomi," sighed Rodney. "She is LOVEMUFFIN's newest secret weapon: a highly skilled, genetically enhanced platypus. She's stronger, faster, stealthier, and smarter than you. She can bring down a whole organisation on her own. But first, she's going to destroy you."

Perry took in a sharp breath.

"It's her prime directive," Rodney said smugly. "Destroy Perry the Platypus. All I have to do is say the code word and she will destroy you. Won't you, Naomi?"

"Yes sir," said Naomi, speaking for the first time. Her voice didn't sound as robotic as Perry expected. "I live to serve LOVEMUFFIN."

"Good girl," smirked Rodney. "Now, Agent Thirteen: use your scythe."

The effect on Naomi was instant. She leapt off Perry and landed a few metres away in a fighting stance. Perry scrambled up and matched her stance. Then Naomi brought out of nowhere a stick, on which she pressed a button. A massive laser scythe blade came out of the end.

"Oh great," muttered Perry. "This won't be hard at all."

Naomi attacked.


	3. Chapter 3

This time, Perry was able to react quickly enough. He dodged out of the way of the sharp scythe and backflipped over. Naomi lunged for him but Perry avoided her blows. She attacked him with such speed and ferocity and strength that he could barely keep up. When Perry felt himself hit the wall, he pressed himself up against it and raised his hand to protect himself, as Naomi lifted the scythe.

"Perry the Platypus!" yelled a voice.

Perry turned his head in time to see Heinz throwing a thin metal pipe towards him. He caught it and parried Naomi's attack just in time. Perry made the blade retract into the stick until it was a baton. Then the two platypuses had a sword fight with two sticks.

Perry had always been top of the class at OWCA in swordfighting. He could and had beat three opponents at once (he had once beaten Victor, Christina, and Pinky the Chihuahua at the same time) but Naomi, as Rodney had said, was stronger and faster than him. He was finding it hard to even begin trying to get an advantage. It was all he could do to keep up with her amazing speed and strength.

Finally, Perry managed to knock the pipe out of Naomi's hand. Quickly dodging a hit from his stick, Naomi rolled over to the side of the room, preparing to attack. There was a steely glint in her eye.

 _Oh man…_

The next two minutes were the most painful of Perry's life. Even without the scythe, Naomi inflicted some serious pain. Perry couldn't fight back fast enough.

Then, with lightning fast speed and stunning strength, she scooped up her stick, reactivating the scythe blade in the process, and kicked Perry to the floor, winding him. She held her foot down hard on his chest, preventing him from getting up. Perry's heart was pounding as he stared into the neutral face of Naomi the Platypus, who was about to kill him with her scythe.

"Enough!" Heinz yelled suddenly. "That's enough!"

"Oh Doofy, don't tell me you're losing your spine already," sighed Rodney. "You know this is necessary. I don't care that he's your nemesis, we have to destroy him."

"W-we can't destroy Perry the Platypus yet! He hasn't seen everything she can do!" Heinz reached out towards Rodney, the only person who could make Naomi stop. "That's the whole reason we created Naomi: to make a statement!"

"We created her to destroy Perry the Platypus," Rodney said. His eyes flickered to Naomi, who was waiting for Rodney's orders, her scythe blade just inches away from Perry's neck.

"I created the design to make a statement!" yelled Heinz. "You decided to make her directive to destroy Perry the Platypus. We want her to take down OWCA and the best way of making sure people see her doing that is to spare Perry the Platypus and have him watch!"

Rodney thought for a moment. "Yes, I think you're right. Agent Thirteen, that's enough for today."

The red light left Naomi's eyes and she lifted her foot off Perry. She went over to Rodney, who brought out some kind of teleportation device and teleported them both away. Chest heaving and eyes closed, Perry was left on the floor, trying to recover.

A moment later, Perry felt someone kneel next to him. "P-Perry the Platypus, please tell me you're okay!"

Perry opened his eyes and saw Heinz's worried face swim into view. "Ugh," he groaned.

"Are you okay?"

Perry nodded and winced as Heinz helped him sit up. "What just happened?"

"You just got your butt kicked pretty spectacularly," Heinz replied.

Perry scowled at him, but his face quickly relaxed into a neutral expression. "Thanks for helping."

"I just want you to know that I was against this whole plan," Heinz said. "Rodney made me set off an –inator so you would come. He was actually planning to destroy you."

"I can tell." Perry glared at Heinz. "Why not let me be destroyed? You've tried to kill me many times."

Heinz looked surprised. "Perry the Platypus, you should know by now that the only reason I try to kill you is to stall you. I know you're perfectly capable of getting out of any trap I set up, even the ones that try to kill you."

"So what's with the code word?" Perry asked. "And what WAS the code word?"

"I'm not entirely sure what the words are."

"Words?" Perry repeated. "Plural?"

"One to put her in her killing trance, the other to take her out of it. She'll only obey Rodney's voice, though, so even if I knew what the trigger words were, I wouldn't be able to make her do anything." He paused. "Perry the Platypus, are you badly hurt?"

Perry frowned. "No. Why?"

"You just seem to be having trouble catching your breath."

Perry paused. It was true; his heart was still pounding and he felt incredibly hot. Had Naomi scared him so much that he was still feeling the effects five minutes after she had gone?

 _Nope,_ said a voice in Perry's head. _You know why you're still affected by Naomi, and it's not because you're scared of her._

"Perry the Platypus?"

Perry blinked and looked up into his nemesis's face. "Do you need coffee or something?" Heinz asked. "Food?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" demanded Perry. "We're enemies."

"We're nemeses," Heinz corrected. "We fight when I'm doing something evil, like enemies do, but the difference is that we're nice to each other outside of battles. Now, do you need anything?"

Perry found himself beginning to shiver. "A-a blanket if you've got one."

Heinz got up and left the room, leaving Perry to dwell on his situation. Naomi hadn't said much. It made Perry wonder if she could even think for herself. It was sad if she couldn't; she was clearly not a cyborg. She was clearly a living platypus. If she couldn't even think for herself, it meant that Rodney and LOVEMUFFIN had as good as made her into a machine.

A weapon that could fight and not question orders.


	4. Chapter 4

When Perry got into work the next day, all he could think about was Naomi. He completely blanked Victor and Christina as they had yet another big argument, even though this was not unusual. He had no idea what they were arguing about, but he thought it was probably nothing.

Then Victor dragged him into it. "Perry, help me out here!"

Perry looked blearily up at his friend. "What?"

"Don't bring Perry into this," Christina snapped. "Can you not fight your own battles?"

"I can't when my opponent is refusing to admit that I'm right!"

"Oh, you're right?" retorted Christina. "I'm sorry, it happens so rarely, I didn't recognise it when I saw it."

"Ouch," commented Perry softly. "What exactly are you arguing about?"

"You've been sitting right there," said Victor in confusion. "How do you not know?"

"Victor's trying to take away my freedom and rights," snapped Christina.

"What?" Victor turned back to Christina. "No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" Christina laughed bitterly. "So saying that I can't go to the OWCA party with Terry is NOT taking away my rights to choose?"

Victor opened his mouth but Christina apparently wasn't done. "I hate you sometimes! You think that just because we hang out every day, I'm obligated to go to the party with you! Well, if you don't ask, you don't get, and I was asked by Terry. Were you even planning to ask me?" She ploughed on without waiting for an answer. "I'm not here for your pleasure, Victor! You should have treated me like a living being and asked me to the party if you wanted to go with me, instead of assuming I'd be so unattractive to other guys that it would get to the day before the party and I wouldn't have a date so I'd have to go with you. Well, I'm done with you! I never want to see your face again!"

With that, Christina turned on her heel and stormed out.

Perry waited to see Victor's reaction to this. If the otter reacted angrily, then it would be obvious that Victor didn't really have true feelings for Christina. On the other hand, if he reacted guiltily or sadly, then it would become clear that he really loved Christina.

Perry wasn't sure what he was expecting as he steadily watched his friend. After a few moments, Victor sighed deeply and let his shoulders droop. "Was I really taking away her freedom and rights?" he asked numbly.

Perry paused. "Well…I didn't hear the whole argument, but from what I heard…it sounds like you might have been."

Victor let out what sounded like a sob, to Perry's utter shock. "That was not my intention. Now that I think about it, I feel disgusted by my actions. I can't believe I made Christina feel like I thought she was only there for me. I don't believe that at all. Now…now she hates me."

"It was a misunderstanding," soothed Perry.

"Was it?" asked Victor bitterly. "You saw her face. She said she never wanted to see me again. And I don't blame her. If someone treated me the way I just treated her, I would hate them too."

"Talk to her," Perry insisted. "Show her what you're showing me: how bad you feel."

"She won't listen," Victor said sadly. "Why should she?" He heaved a sigh as Perry opened his beak to speak again. "No offense Perry, but I'd prefer it if you left me alone to think right now. I need to decide what to do."

"Go home," Perry suggested. "I'll cover for you."

"Really?" Victor looked gratefully at Perry. "Thanks. I-I'm not in the best condition to be working right now."

Perry nodded and watched his best friend leave. Almost as soon as Victor left his sight, Pinky the Chihuahua came rushing in, looking very excited. "Perry, guess what! I asked Tess to the OWCA party and she said yes!"

"That's great, Pinky," said Perry absently.

"She's already gone dress shopping," laughed Pinky. "Women, eh?"

"Yeah," Perry said, his thoughts back on Naomi.

"Anyway, Major Monogram called me on a mission. I just wanted to stop and tell you. See you later."

"Yeah," Perry said for the second time, as the Chihuahua left his office.

He got up, stretched, and decided to see if Major Monogram needed him for anything. If not, he knew where he wanted to go.

As he exited his office, he bumped into Tess the Toller. Her dark brown fur was silky and beautiful as always. Her normally cheerful face was dampened by a worried frown. "Perry, you might want to check on Christina. She's been crying really hard."

"I know why," sighed Perry.

He thanked Tess and moved on. On his way to Major Monogram's office, he heard crying coming from the girls' bathroom. He awkwardly opened the door and looked inside, to the horror of two female bird agents, who threw little bars of soap at him. He closed the door briefly to avoid them, before calling Christina's name softly into the room. The crying stopped, and a moment later, the red-eyed bobcat came to the door.

"Do you need a drink?" asked Perry softly.

Christina nodded miserably.

"I have some cola in my office. Do you want?"

She nodded again.

Perry took Christina's paw gently and led her back towards his office. He sat her down and placed a bottle of coke in front of her. She took tiny sips of it, all the while crying. Perry felt awkward around crying people, even if he knew why they were crying.

"I hate," she said eventually.

Perry looked at her. "What do you hate?"

"Everything," choked Christina. "I hate myself, I hate Victor, I hate OWCA, I hate life."

"You shouldn't hate everything," Perry said in alarm. "Look, Victor feels really bad. He had to go home because he's not in a great mindset right now."

Christina glared ferociously at Perry, who felt the need to take a step back. "How the hell does he think I feel?!"

Perry raised his hands in surrender. "Don't shoot the messenger."

But Christina ignored him and went off on a rant about Victor. Perry nervously watched her. He had never seen her this mad at Victor before. It made him wonder if they were ever going to make up.

"Will you ever forgive him?" Perry asked. "Did you mean what you said about not wanting to see him again?"

Christina sighed and didn't immediately go off on another rant, which Perry took as a good sign. "I don't know," she admitted. "I-I care a lot about him, despite his stupidity. But he had to go and basically say I was only allowed to go with him. He was basically implying that he assumed I was so unattractive that other guys wouldn't ask me to the party. My self-confidence took a bad knock, and I don't know if I can forgive that. I've always been self-conscious about myself. Terry asking me to the party was a great compliment to me, since the only guys who have ever paid attention to me are you and that idiot. I don't know if I can forgive, but even if I can, I can't just forget how he made me feel, how insignificant I felt."

"You should have seen him after you left," Perry said quietly. "He was furious with himself. He hated the idea of you not wanting to see him again."

Christina's face turned stony again. "Well, for the moment, he's going to have to put up with it. For the foreseeable future, I will not forgive him and I have no wish to even see his face."

She set the coke bottle down hard on the table and got up. "Thank you for taking the time, Perry." Then she left the office.

Perry watched her go sadly. He hated arguments, and the thought of Victor and Christina never even being friends again made him feel unimaginably sad.

However, he pushed it to the back of his mind and left the office as well. There was somewhere he wanted to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Without asking Major Monogram's permission, Perry took his hovercar from his lair. As he was flying through the air on his way, he was thinking solely of Naomi. He didn't understand why she was occupying his thoughts so much. He had only met her once, for about fifteen minutes. Was this love at first sight? Was it even love?

 _Surely it must be,_ Perry thought. _I can't stop thinking about her. If this isn't love, I don't know what is. But I need to find out if she feels the same._

He parked his hovercar on the balcony of DEI. He wasn't entirely sure where Rodney's base of operations was so he was intending to ask Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He left the hovercar and headed into the main lab. The lights were off. He felt the wall until he found the light switch and flipped it, flooding the room in light. Nobody was home.

Perry cautiously edged into the room. He had no idea what kinds of traps Heinz might have set for him. Even though they were on friendlier terms nowadays than a few years ago, it was still better to be careful than sorry.

All of a sudden, something smashed into Perry and knocked him down with a yell. A foot stood on his chest, preventing him from getting up. Two brown eyes glared into his eyes. A sharp scythe blade was pointed in his face. He gave a yelp. "Whoa, whoa!"

"What are you doing here?" demanded Naomi.

"I-I wanted to v-visit you," Perry stammered.

"How did you know I'd be here?"

"I didn't," Perry choked. "I was going to ask Doofenshmirtz if he knew where you were."

Naomi narrowed her eyes and then stepped back, letting Perry get up. "Why did you want to see me?" Naomi demanded.

"I…" Perry paused, debating whether to tell the truth. "I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Naomi raised her eyebrows. "And why exactly were you thinking about me?"

"What's with all the questions?" muttered Perry.

Naomi kicked Perry hard in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards. Then she lunged to attack again. Perry fought back but within just a few minutes, he was defeated. Naomi lowered into a fighting stance, scythe ready to attack.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Perry yelled hurriedly, holding out his hand with the palm towards Naomi. "Wait, I just want to talk to you!"

"There's been enough talking," Naomi snarled. "Now you get destroyed."

"Then at least tell me why you're here and not with your creator," Perry said quickly.

Naomi froze and dropped the scythe, to Perry's bewilderment. "It's okay," she muttered to herself. "He is just at the LOVEMUFFIN meeting. He is coming back for you."

"LOVEMUFFIN meeting?" repeated Perry, edging closer. "And he left you here alone?"

"He left me with Heinz Doofenshmirtz," corrected Naomi rather forcefully. "Doctor Doofenshmirtz left to take his daughter to a party. He said he would take just an hour."

"And how long has he been gone?" Perry inquired cautiously.

Naomi sniffed once before drawing herself up. "Three hours," she said.

Perry frowned sympathetically. "Have you been outside?"

Naomi shook her head. "The only two places I have been are Professor Roddenstein's tower and here."

Perry was stunned. "Y-you mean you've never been outside AT ALL?"

Naomi shook her head.

"Let me take you," Perry offered.

Naomi narrowed her eyes and shrank back. "Why would you do that?"

"To show you what it's like outside," replied Perry. "It's nice. It's worth going out there."

"I am not allowed outside," Naomi said. The angry light came back into her eyes and she snapped, "Just go back to your master already."

"I don't have a master," Perry said.

Naomi stared at Perry with an expression conveying shock, surprise, and also utter emptiness. "How do you not have a master?" she gasped, sounding completely distressed.

"I have a major," Perry said. "But he's just my superior who gives me the missions that I go on. I don't have to do everything he says."

Naomi just gaped at Perry. "H-how do you live without a master? Won't you make mistakes?"

"It's better, trust me," Perry said. "You can go where you like, do what you like, whenever you like. Having the freedom to control your own life is completely worth any mistakes you make. Trust me."

Naomi paused, considering this.

"How about you let me take you outside?" Perry suggested. "We'll sit in the grass outside the building or visit the park across the road."

"I-I can't disobey Rodney," Naomi said quietly. "I just can't."

"Did Rodney tell you to stay put?"

"Well…he told me to stay with Doctor Doofenshmirtz," Naomi said uncertainly.

"Then Rodney's orders have already been disobeyed," Perry pointed out. "But not by you. And anyway, even if they hadn't, you wouldn't be disobeying him anyway, seeing as Doof's gone."

He held out his hand to Naomi, who looked suspiciously at it and then glared at Perry. "Why are you so concerned with me going outside?"

"What?"

"What do you have to gain from this?"

"Nothing at all," Perry replied truthfully. "I hate it when people don't know what they're missing. All I want is to show you the joys of the outside."

Naomi frowned deeply. "I don't know. Rodney told me he wants me to learn what it's like to be a true warrior."

Bristling with fury at Rodney not even allowing Naomi to go outside, Perry gave a smile. "Well, think of this as a learning experience, if nothing else. Come on. Come with me."

He extended his hand again towards Naomi, who looked uncertainly back at him. "We wouldn't go far, right?"

"We'll only go as far as you want," Perry promised. "If you feel uncomfortable, we'll go right back."

Naomi hesitated and gave one final protest: "How do I know that I can trust you?"

"You don't." Perry gave a lopsided grin. "But what is life without a little risk?"

Naomi seemed to reach a decision. "Alright, then." She gave Perry a playful smile. "Let's see what you got, OWCA agent."


	6. Chapter 6

Naomi was very adventurous, even crossing the road nicely, until they actually got to the park. She hesitated as Perry walked through the gate.

"What?" Perry asked her. "What is it?"

"What's the green stuff?" Naomi asked suspiciously.

Perry looked down at his feet. "You mean grass?"

"Grass?"

"It's a plant," Perry explained. "It's everywhere so it's fine to walk on." At Naomi's doubtful look, Perry added, "Come on, Naomi. Are you going to let a tiny little plant that's walked on on a daily basis defeat you?"

Naomi's face settled. "No. No, I am not."

She grabbed Perry's wrist and dragged him onto the grass. Immediately, she felt its softness under her feet. The grass was cool but manageably so, and she pushed her feet into the soft dirt.

"Grass," she repeated aloud. "It's nice."

Then she looked around the park itself. It was bigger than she had expected. There were some flower beds full of beautiful and fragrant flowers, and a small circle of water down one end. Naomi looked up and saw that the sky was a beautiful blue colour, with small white clouds dotting the sky here and there, as well as the bright sun. She blinked against its light, feeling the warmth of its rays on her body. Something about the park seemed very different to what she was used too; perhaps too different, but she couldn't think of what it was.

"So is this what a park looks like?" Naomi watched the trees rustle in the breeze. "It's nice."

"A lot of people who agree with you come here every day," Perry told her. "So what was your first impression?"

Naomi smiled at Perry, "It's…just nice. Much nicer than just looking it out of a window. Besides, it's clean and bright and full of fresh air. It's lovely."

Perry nodded and lay flat down on the grass with his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky. Naomi lay down next to him, but she didn't seem to be looking at the sky. Perry glanced at her and found that she was staring up at the tree they were lying under. Perry watched her and saw that she was watching the birds that were flying to and from a nest up on the top branch.

"How often do you come here?" Naomi asked, keeping her eyes on Perry to gauge his reactions.

Perry smiled wistfully. "Quite often. If I have a bit of time after my mission, I hang out here. And meet up with other OWCA agents if they have time. Nowadays though, it seems like everyone is busy. But even alone, I hang out here for hours."

"Don't you miss your master?" Naomi asked, before she caught herself. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot."

"Well, I may not have a master, but I do have two owners," Perry said. "Very different arrangement. Masters tell you what to do and literally control you. Owners take care of you while still giving you the freedom to do whatever you want."

"Owners sound nice," admitted Naomi. "So do you miss them when you come here for hours?"

"Yes, but some battles make me so tired that I need to rest here for a while before heading home. And once I'm reenergised, I head home for dinner," Perry explained.

Naomi smiled. "Sounds calming. So apart from finding comfortable spots to sleep, are there other things to do here?"

Perry nodded. "Yes. You thirsty?"

"Um…not really," Naomi said, scrunching her bill up.

"Oh." Perry stood up and stretched. "There's still something I want to show you, anyway."

Naomi followed Perry further into the park until they came to the small circle of water, which was full of birds and various fish. Perry nodded towards it.

"Great source for drinking water and also a great place for swimming," Perry said.

Naomi cocked her head on one side. "Swimming?"

"Yeah." Perry stared at her puzzled face. "Please tell me you've gone swimming before."

Naomi frowned and shook her head. "I can't say that because it wouldn't be true."

Perry gaped. "Okay, you need to come into the water with me and swim."

"That's not happening," Naomi growled. "Don't tell me what to do!"

Perry mentally cursed himself. "Alright, alright. We won't swim today. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Try never," snapped Naomi. "You're not getting me to go into water."

Perry shrugged. "Alright." He thought about adding something about how amazing it felt and how relaxing it was, but he decided to keep silent on the matter. "Time to go?"

Naomi gave him a death glare. "Yes. Well, I had better head back soon."

"One more walk around the park?" suggested Perry.

Naomi sighed, before breathing in deeply. "The air here is very fresh. Maybe we could just stay here for a few more minutes."

Perry nodded. "Okay, then."

He lay back down and, after a minute, Naomi joined him.

"If you want something relaxing to do, watch the clouds," Perry said. "On a breezy day like this, they'll drift by really fast and it's almost hypnotically relaxing to watch."

Naomi decided to try it. She copied Perry's movement of putting the hands behind the head and watched the clouds go by. Perry was right: it was almost hypnotic. It was very relaxing to simply watch the clouds drift across the sky.

However, she had to tear herself away from the hypnosis after about ten minutes. It was time for her to go home.

"I should head home now," she said. "Doctor Doofenshmirtz might be back already and he'll tell Rodney if he finds me gone."

Perry nodded. "Did you have a good time?"

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "Strangely, yes."

Perry walked with her back over the road and went with her up to Heinz's home. He opened the door and allowed her into the empty living room.

"See you tomorrow?" Perry asked hopefully.

"Only if you come over here to battle Doctor Doofenshmirtz," Naomi said with a sly smile. "I'll be kicking your butt."

Perry sighed. "Alright then."

As Perry got home, he smiled and settled in his bed. "A few more days alone with Naomi, and maybe she'll be nicer to me," he said aloud. "It would be nice to go over there without her immediately attacking me."

Today was a day Perry could chart as a successful day. Perry closed his eyes and fell asleep in his bed, dreaming of Naomi and him being mates.

…

 **Quanktumspirit wrote this chapter and I edited it, plus adding, changing, and removing some things.**


	7. Chapter 7

When Perry got into work the next day, Victor was nowhere in sight and Christina was in her office, sleeping at her desk. Perry didn't have the heart to wake her up so he left her there and went into his own office, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate on work after the day he had yesterday.

Sure enough, when he tried to write up a report on his most recent battle with Doctor Doofenshmirtz, all he could think about was Naomi and the wonderful day he had had yesterday. He also had a couple of questions, the most notable one being: why didn't Naomi like water? She had point-blank refused to swim with him. She had been open minded about everything else outside, so why hadn't she wanted to try swimming too?

Someone knocked on his door, bringing him out of his daydream. He turned in his chair and saw a platypus who was the spitting image of him. "Oh, hey Paris."

Perry's sister hopped onto his desk and grinned down at her brother. "Ask me how my relationship is going."

Perry raised an eyebrow and folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. "Okay. How are things going in the land of crazy?"

Paris slapped her brother on the arm. "Shut up and ask me properly."

Perry blinked. "But how can I shut up _and_ ask you a question?" he asked innocently.

Paris decided to ignore him. "Pascal is amazing!" she sighed happily, lying across Perry's desk while staring dreamily into space. "We've already planned out our whole lives together. Next year, he's going to ask me to become his mate, seeing as we'll both be of age then. Two blissful years after that, we'll have children."

"You've picked out names for those children already?" interrupted Perry.

"Maybe," Paris said, looking affronted. "But what do you care?"

Perry sighed. "I was caring, Paris. But now that you mention it…"

Paris hit her brother again. "Why do I even talk to you? You've got this look in your eye that tells me you're thinking about something else." She suddenly gasped, giving Perry a fright. "It's a girl! It's a girl, isn't it?"

"No," Perry lied, but even he could feel himself blushing.

Paris let out a high pitched squeal that could probably have been heard on Mars, had it not been at such a high frequency that only dogs could hear it. "I knew it!" she crowed. "I knew you'd eventually find a girl!"

Perry hit his sister's arm, making her fall silent. "Shut up," he hissed. "I don't want the whole of OWCA to know about it."

"Why? Is your love forbidden?" teased Paris.

Perry rolled his eyes. "Something like that, yes."

Paris gasped dramatically. "She's a member of LOVEMUFFIN, isn't she?!"

"Will you please let me explain?" Perry snapped, causing Paris to shut her beak.

Perry explained everything, from his first meeting with Naomi to his "date" yesterday. Paris listened intently.

"So you don't even know if she likes you back?" she asked when Perry had finished.

Perry shook his head. "She keeps attacking me. I think it's because she doesn't entirely trust me yet, but if she does like me back, she's doing a very good job of hiding her feelings."

"She's basically a lab rat," Paris said. "Who knows if she can even _have_ feelings?"

Perry paused. He hadn't thought of that. Was he getting himself into permanently unrequited love? If Naomi really didn't have the capacity to feel emotions like love, then Perry had basically broken his own heart.

"Oh man…" he sighed. "I wish this wasn't so complicated."

"Everything's complicated, bro." Paris gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, I should totally come with you on your next mission over to Doof's. I wanna meet this Naomi."

Perry stared at her, panicked. "Wh-what?"

"That's settled, then." Paris beamed. "Should I invite Pascal too?"

"No!" yelped Perry. He cleared his throat. "I mean…that won't be necessary. I'm not even comfortable with _you_ coming along, to be honest."

"Nonsense." Paris hopped off Perry's desk and began walking to the exit. "Let's go then, shall we?"

"This is going to be a disaster," sighed Perry as he followed his sister out the room.

After obtaining the necessary permission from Major Monogram—something Perry hoped wouldn't happen—they were on their way. Paris, an office agent, didn't get out much on a hovercar, so she was very excited.

"I can't believe we're flying!"

Perry hit his head against the steering wheel. "Paris, you've rode in this hovercar before."

"I know, but it's still exhilarating every time," sighed Paris, craning her neck so that the wind was whistling directly into her face. "Ah, this is amazing."

"Yeah, well, when you do it on a daily basis, it loses its novelty."

Perry landed the car on the balcony of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, mostly expecting Naomi to be here again. However, the only person in the house was Nathan "Nate" Doofenshmirtz, Vanessa's twin brother. He was sitting on the sofa with his feet up on the coffee table, reading a magazine.

"Hey Perry," Nate said without looking up as Perry came in. "Are you after my dad?"

"No, actually," Perry said. "I was wondering if that pink platypus is here."

"Who: Naomi?" Nate put down his magazine. "Nah, she's at Rodney's place."

"Okay, thanks." Perry turned to walk away.

"By the way, Dad's going to be out all day tomorrow, so he's left me in charge of your daily scheme," Nate called after him. "Should be fun."

Perry grinned as he went back to the hovercar and started the engine. He enjoyed battling Nate because of the boy's extraordinary stamina and endurance levels. He wasn't much of a fighter—since all Nate knew was fencing and some swordfighting—but their fights could go on for ages without Perry hurting him or him getting tired. Nate was only sixteen but he was almost as worthy an opponent as his father, and at least ten times more willing to fight as his twin sister, who frequently showed strong embarrassment towards her father and brother.

"We gotta go to Rodney's if we want to see Naomi," Perry told his sister as the hovercar picked up speed.

"I can't wait!" squealed Paris.

All of a sudden, a loud bang sounded from below, and Perry felt the steering wheel jerk.

"We've been hit!" he yelled in alarm.

"By what?" Paris gasped fearfully.

Perry pointed downwards. "There!"

On top of Rodney's triangle-shaped building was a cannon, which was firing round after round of ammunition at them.

"A bit overkill," commented Perry, before Paris began screaming hysterically.

Perry was about to tell his sister to shut up when he had to take the hovercar into a sharp dive in order to avoid yet another round of ammunition being fired their way. However, he wasn't fast enough, and the hovercar took another hit.

"We're going down!" Perry yelled over the sound of the engine spluttering. "Hold onto me!"

A terrified Paris grabbed Perry around the waist.

Wishing he'd thought to pack his parachute, Perry waited until the rapidly descending hovercar was right next to the triangular balcony…

…and then he jumped.

…

 **Yes, I know a triangle is a weird shape for a building, but I have this headcanon that, since Doof has a Ferb's-head-shaped building, Rodney has a Phineas's-head-shaped building.**


	8. Chapter 8

Paris would not stop screaming as they freefell through the air for just a few seconds, before they landed heavily on the balcony, cutting Paris's screaming short and winding both of them. Perry lay recovering for a minute or so, listening to his sister choking as she too tried to recover.

"I am so glad I'm not a field agent right now," Paris choked.

"Are you okay?" Perry wheezed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Perry heard his sister breathing rhythmically in and out. "I'm never gonna get in a hovercar again, but I'm fine."

"Look on the bright side: we made it in one piece to Rodney's building," Perry said optimistically.

"We almost didn't even make it in one piece," grumbled Paris.

"I didn't make you come," Perry retorted. "You made me bring you."

"I didn't think _this_ was going to happen!" Paris snapped shrilly.

Perry rolled to his feet as he heard a sound. Looking up, he saw Rodney with a ray gun. He automatically grabbed Paris as she got up and pulled her back down, worried that Rodney had spotted them.

However, it seemed that Rodney was fighting someone else. His eye was not on Perry and Paris, and his firing pattern was familiar to Perry. He had seen it many times with Heinz: the random fire of trying to hit an OWCA agent who was flipping around the room.

Sure enough, a familiar orange turtle flipped into view a few seconds later and kicked Rodney in the chin, sending the evil scientist flying into the wall. Terry lowered into a fighting stance right in front of him.

"You win today, Terry the Turtle." Rodney looked at his watch. "You're just lucky I have to pick Orville up from school now."

Terry stood up straight as Rodney got up collected a few things from the sideboard, and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Terry turned to head onto the balcony and fly away, when he spotted Perry, who was now standing up. His eyebrows immediately rose. "What exactly are you doing here?"

Perry thought about this. He couldn't tell the truth, that much he was certain. But he couldn't think of any lies at all, apart from something about wanting to check on Terry or wondering if Terry needed help, both of which were equally as implausible as each other.

Terry narrowed his eyes as the pause between question and answer grew.

"He was showing me the evil lairs of LOVEMUFFIN's most evil members," Paris said, walking over. "I'm an office agent so I don't get out much."

"Why not just say so?" Terry asked Perry suspiciously.

Paris looked sheepish. "Well, technically…I'm not supposed to be out. Major Monogram kinda grounded me after the last time I went out." She put her paw next to her mouth and stage-whispered to Terry, "I got an agent captured."

Terry raised one eyebrow. "Then why are you out, if you're grounded?"

Paris grimaced. "I'm doing a documentary based on OWCA agents and their respective LOVEMUFFIN nemeses." She tapped her fedora. "I'm recording right now."

Terry nodded slowly, apparently satisfied with that explanation. Perry was marvelling at the conviction Paris had displayed during the lie, when he noticed that Terry was staring hard at him. "Yes?" he said.

"You appear to be scowling at me," Terry observed. "Surely I haven't done anything to make you dislike me?"

Perry started. He hadn't been aware he was scowling at Terry, but now that the turtle had mentioned it, he realised that he was indeed scowling. And even after Terry mentioned it, Perry didn't stop scowling. "You haven't done anything to _me,_ no."

Terry didn't even have to frown. He blinked once, before finally getting it. "You're friends with that otter, aren't you?"

Perry folded his arms. "If you mean Victor, then yes."

"Ah, that explains it. I've had that otter coming to my office to talk to me about why I asked Christina to the OWCA party."

"Well, why did you?" Perry demanded.

Terry glared at Perry. "I don't have to justify myself to you. The otter hadn't already asked Christina so I asked her. It is a free world, after all."

Perry stepped forwards enough to bring his forehead threateningly close to Terry's. "Keep calling Victor "the otter" and see what happens."

Terry immediately turned and walked away. "I don't have to put up with this."

Perry watched him go to the edge of the balcony, summon has hang glider, and leap of the edge of the building.

"He's a jerk," Paris commented.

"Yeah he is."

Looking around, Perry spotted a small, transparent cylinder near the back of the now-deserted laboratory. Inside the cylinder, suspended in sleep, was Naomi. Perry wandered over to the cylinder in a daze and placed his paw on the glass. He mouthed Naomi's name, before looking over the cylinder, wondering what it was for.

"Is that the girl?" Paris walked up and stood beside Perry. "She's pretty. But what's she doing in there?"

"I don't know," Perry admitted. "But I don't want to risk bringing her out, just in case."

Then the sound of a beeping noise reached Perry's ears. The cylinder slowly began to open, and Perry spotted Naomi's eyelids fluttering.

"She's waking up," Perry said in alarm.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Paris asked.

"Sort of. I've only seen her twice before, and both times she's attacked me. I don't really want it to happen again."

"Fair enough."

By the time the cylinder was fully open, so were Naomi's eyes. She stepped delicately out of the cylinder, which closed behind her, and regarded Perry. "You don't quit, do you?"

"I just wanted to see you," Perry confessed. "And I also want you to meet my twin sister, Paris. Paris, this is Naomi."

Paris gave Naomi a nervous look. Naomi simply narrowed her eyes back at Paris for a few seconds, before addressing Perry: "What do you want?"

"I told you: I just wanted to see you."

"Are you obsessed with me or something?" Naomi demanded.

Paris turned her nervous look on Perry, who felt uncomfortable because it was almost the truth.

"What does that cylinder do?" Perry asked, changing the subject.

"It's my pod," Naomi explained, though her still-narrowed eyes told Perry that she wasn't done talking about the previous issue. "I go in there to sleep or heal when I need it."

"You don't need to sleep?" blurted out Paris.

Naomi simply shook her head. "I do need sleep, I just need less than other platypuses. I only have to go in there for a couple of hours a day. I don't know why." She put her hands on her hips. "Now, back to the previous topic of conversation: why do you keep coming to see me?"

"Because I like you!" Perry burst out. "I really like you, okay?"

Naomi seemed surprised by that. "You like me?"

Perry nodded sheepishly. "Yes. I-I want to get to know you better."

Naomi sighed. "I'll be alone over at Doctor Doofenshmirtz's building tomorrow. If you come over, maybe we can talk or spar or something."

Perry almost leapt for joy. "Okay!" he said, way too enthusiastically. "I-I mean…okay…" he added lamely.

Naomi rolled her eyes and pushed Perry away with one paw. "Just get out of here before Professor Roddenstein comes back."

Perry nodded. "See you tomorrow."

As he left with Paris on his hang glider, Perry berated himself. If only he had been honest sooner about his feelings towards Naomi, she might have trusted him a bit more.


	9. Chapter 9

Perry could hardly wait for the next day. When he and Paris got back to OWCA, his twin sister immediately left for an unknown destination.

On his way back to his office, Perry almost tripped over Victor, who was sitting outside the otter's own office, legs drawn in, chin resting on his knees. He seemed to be thinking hard. Guiltily, Perry realised that he hadn't made any time for his friends recently.

He gave his friend a gentle tap with his foot. "Victor?"

"Christina won't even talk to me," Victor sighed. "Was what I said really that bad? I've apologised over and over, but she hasn't accepted my apologies."

Perry frowned. "I didn't think it was that bad. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Four hours ago," Victor replied morosely. "Just after Paris went into your office, I went to Christina's office to see her again but she was asleep so I didn't disturb her."

"You two really need to talk out your issues," Perry said. "Do you want me to help?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's not even my fault at the moment," Victor said. "It's all her. I've done my bit and apologised. Now she's the one who needs to sort herself out."

"Have you had a civil conversation since your massive argument yesterday?"

Victor shook his head. "Every time I try to talk to her, she explodes at me."

Perry frowned. "I know you're biased, but it really sounds like you've done everything you can."

"What do you mean biased?" Victor demanded.

Perry ignored him. "Maybe I should talk to her, then. I haven't seen her in a while."

"You do that," Victor said, standing up. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"It's not lunchtime," Perry pointed out. "The cafeteria won't be open for another hour."

Victor shrugged. "I'll just sit outside or something. I don't really care at this point."

Perry watched, rather concerned, as his friend stumbled down the corridor as if his legs didn't work properly. He had never seen Victor like this before. It was scary.

He went to Christina's office and knocked on the wall. He could see Christina sitting at her desk, but he figured it would be more polite and less startling to knock before he entered.

Christina looked round as Perry took a step into her office. Her face didn't look like she had been crying, which was good, but she also didn't seem to be displaying much emotion either, which was bad. "Hey Perry."

"Chris, have you had much sleep?" Perry asked, seeing the tired look around her eyes.

"I haven't been home," Christina said. "But yes, I've been sleeping."

"At your desk?" Perry said doubtfully. "Is that really the best thing for you?"

Christina gave a shrug and turned back to her computer. A moment later, the consistent tapping of keys started up. "Has Victor spoken to you?" Perry asked.

This elicited a bitter laugh from the bobcat. "Only a hundred times _today._ "

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Perry observed. "Why have you not forgive him? He's apologised."

"He has, but he has to go one step further," Christina snapped. "He has to show that he's truly sorry."

"How do you want him to do that?"

"He needs to treat me like an actual human being. Bring me lunch, invite me to take a walk with him, have a nice chat to me, listen to me when I need to rant, bring me flowers when I need cheering up…"

"Interesting…" Perry commented.

Christina glared at Perry. "Are you going to tell Victor that?"

"Yes," Perry replied immediately. "He's not a mind reader, Chris. If you're not going to tell him what you want him to do, then I have to. Or else this is never going to get resolved because he doesn't know what you want him to do so he won't do it. C'mon, Chris. You have to see that this is the best way to get all this resolved, if you're too proud to tell him yourself."

"Proud!" Christina burst out angrily, before forcibly calming herself. "Proud," she repeated calmly. "You think I'm proud?"

"Yes." Perry knew he was being a bit harsh, but if it snapped Christina into trying to make up with Victor, it would be worth it. "Any normal girl would tell the boy what it is he's doing—or, in this case, not doing—wrong."

Christina scowled, before turning back to his computer. "Fine. Tell him."

Perry hugged Christina around her back, resting his head between her shoulder blades. "Things will get better," he said. "I promise."

Christina scoffed, but the noise sounded forced and not very genuine. "I hope so."

Leaving Christina's office, Perry headed towards the cafeteria to see Victor but rerouted himself midway and went to his office to make sure he had no outstanding emails. He hadn't checked his inbox in a long time, and for all he knew, he had missed a few missions from Major Monogram.

He spent fifteen minutes going through his inbox. All of the ten emails he received were female agents asking him to the OWCA party, and he had to politely turn down all of them in different ways. He was still optimistic that he would be able to take Naomi to the party.

Just as he was getting ready to leave his office, he heard an angry yell from outside. Sliding over to the entrance on his chair, he peered out. To his dismay, Victor and Christina were standing in the corridor, about two metres apart from each other, both of them yelling incoherently at each other.

Perry quickly leapt off his chair, sending it spinning away, and got in between them before things got physical.

"What the hell is happening here?" he demanded.

"Christina won't admit that she overreacted!" Victor snapped.

"That's because she didn't," Perry snapped back.

"Not to my original remark," Victor corrected. "I mean to what I said just now."

"For those of us who didn't hear, what did you say?"

"He asked me if I was still going to the party with Terry," snarled Christina. "Which I still am. The way he said it made him sound patronising, as if I've sunk to a low level by agreeing to go out with him."

"I never said it in any way like that!" snapped Victor. "You overreacted!"

"No I didn't!" Christina yelled back, raising her fist.

Perry quickly pushed Victor and Christina away from each other. "Just calm down!" he shouted. "You guys need to go get some air, okay?" He turned to Christina. "You go home and sleep. Don't come back until tomorrow." He turned to Victor. "You go to your office and don't leave until the end of the day."

The otter and the bobcat both grumbled but they walked off in different directions. Perry breathed out as he watched them go.

He really wished he knew how to resolve the situation.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, Perry woke up at his normal time, wondering why he was so excited about today. Then he remembered: today was the day he was going to see Naomi. And this time, she would be expecting him.

Phineas and Ferb were already up and out of the house, so Perry was able to hop into the shower for a few minutes, even though his fur was so thick and sleek that this did basically nothing.

Within ten minutes, he was zooming towards Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated in his hovercar, not even noticing how cold the weather was.

He landed the hovercar on the balcony and, upon hearing voices, realised that he had forgotten about Doctor Doofenshmirtz. He hid behind the wall and peered in. Heinz was standing on the platform at the back of the room, beside Naomi's pod. He seemed to be arguing with Nate, who was standing by the door.

Perry couldn't help listening in.

"-wish you'd see reason!" Nate was snapping. "I don't know why someone would continue to do something when they know they keep failing!"

"I can't just give up evil!" Heinz snapped back. "Evil is my life!"

"Dad, I'm going to be frank: you're the most pathetic evil scientist in the world."

Heinz suddenly flung the wrench he was holding at his son. It hit the wall next to Nate, missing him by a mile, but it still made him flinch. "Dad!" he yelled, thoroughly shocked.

"Don't you dare call me pathetic!" Heinz shouted angrily, pushing past his son and storming out of the room.

Nate stood stock still, hugging his arms. He seemed to be in shock.

Perry hesitantly came further into the room. "Nate?"

The boy turned, not looking very surprised to see Perry there. "Hey, Perry. Why didn't you come yesterday?"

Perry groaned as he remembered that he had forgotten to come to DEI yesterday for their daily scheme. "I completely forgot," he said apologetically. "I had a lot on my plate yesterday. I'm sorry."

Nate shrugged. "It's fine. I wasn't in the right headspace myself. Anyway, you here for Naomi?"

Perry nodded, still feeling bad that he had essentially stood Nate up.

Nate pointed towards the roof. "She's up in the lab."

"Thanks." As Perry headed to the stairs, he asked, "Where's Vanessa?"

"At Mom's," Nate replied. "I'm just about to join her."

"You two getting along fine?"

"As well as twins can." Nate gave a wry grin. "Especially when one of them is a goth."

"Nobody understands goths," chuckled Perry.

Nate gave Perry a weak smirk, before disappearing out the door.

The platypus continued up to the laboratory. There, on the deserted floor, he saw Naomi with a scythe that wasn't a laser scythe—this one was completely made of metal, both hilt and blade. Naomi was using the end of the hilt to flip punching bags into the air, and then slicing them in half with the blade. Perry watched this, mesmerised.

He was able to stand there for at least seven minutes before Naomi spotted him. Panting hard and sweating, she dropped the scythe and headed over to him. "Hey, Perry."

"Hi, Naomi. Those were some cool moves."

Naomi smiled for once. "Thank you."

"So how come you have two scythes?" Perry asked.

Naomi shrugged. "Professor Roddenstein made two for me. One laser, one metal. I don't know why he did that, but he told me to train with both, so here I am."

"So do you want to spar?" Perry asked. "Just with fists, though, mind. I don't have such a lethal weapon as your scythe."

Naomi grinned, surprising Perry. "You sure you can keep up?"

Perry narrowed his eyes. No matter who he was talking to—whether Victor or Naomi or a complete stranger—he hated people doubting him. "Yes. I'm sure."

Naomi went over to the side of the room and left her scythe there. Then she went into the centre, cracking her knuckles. Perry walked towards her, and then they circled each other.

"Don't hold back," Perry said. "I need to learn how to beat you."

"Are you sure?" chuckled Naomi. "You can't leave crying if you break a bone, then."

Perry attacked while Naomi was speaking.

Naomi dodged backwards as Perry tried to hit her.

"You don't seem as light today," Naomi observed, while Perry tried again and again to land a hit on her. "You're like I was the other day when we went to the park."

"I'm just worried, I think," Perry confessed, taking his own turn to dodge blows. "Two of my best friends clearly love each other but they're constantly arguing, and I don't know what to do about it. Can I ask your advice about it?"

"You can ask." Naomi leapt and vaulted over Perry's head. "I'm not the best with advice, though."

"Victor and Christina have been my two best friends for as long as I can remember," Perry explained as the two platypuses continued fighting. "They've always been the best of friends, often doing things without me. Which I didn't mind, since I was always hoping they would get together. But recently, they had a massive argument, and now they can't even be in the same room without arguing. They've both told me privately that they have feelings for the other, but they can't admit it to each other, for some reason. I wish they'd forgive each other and make up. But what can I do about it?"

There was silence for a few minutes, apart from the noises of their spar, as Naomi thought about this. Eventually, she asked, "Do you think they love each other?"

"Yes," Perry replied without hesitation. "I can see it in their faces and the way they act around each other…or at least the way they _used_ to act around each other."

"Then as long as that love never dies, they'll be fine. I have no doubt that as long as there is love, there will always be love."

"That's not always true," sighed Perry. "But thank you, Naomi. I believe it's true with Victor and Christina. And at least there's the OWCA party for them to enjoy a dance with each other in."

"A party?" repeated Naomi. "What's a party?"

Perry stopped dead, receiving a fist to his jaw for his trouble. Naomi stepped back as Perry stared at her. "You don't know what a party is?"

"Remember who you're talking to," Naomi said dangerously. "I don't know much about the outside world."

"A party is where people go to have fun," Perry explained. "Someone hosts it, and that person provides food and entertainment for the guests. More often than not, dancing is the entertainment. They play music, and people dance."

"And your organisation is hosting a party?"

"For its hundredth anniversary, yeah." Perry hesitated. "It's-it's customary for agents to bring a date."

"A date is…?"

"Someone you go with to a party," Perry explained. After a brief hesitation, he added, "Mostly as a romantic attachment."

Naomi smirked at Perry. "Sorry, sunshine. I need to get to know you a bit more before we start getting romantic."

Perry flushed bright red. "Wh-what? No, I didn't…! I wasn't…! I didn't mean…!"

Naomi burst out laughing. "The look on your face," she spluttered. "I'm teasing you. Now come on, let's go for another round."

Perry laughed weakly as he moved over to the centre of the room again, pretending that he totally wasn't bothered by the fact that Naomi was only kidding about getting romantic.

He sighed. _Maybe someday,_ he thought.


	11. Chapter 11

Heinz entered his laboratory, after checking that it was deserted. He couldn't face his son now, not after he had almost killed him with a wrench. And yet, he still had to apologise. How was he going to do that? Jury was still out.

He placed the shopping bags on the kitchen table and listened hard. He could hear noises from upstairs in the lab. Either Naomi was training, or Perry the Platypus had come over and was sparring with her. He hoped it was the latter; if anyone could save Naomi, it was Perry the Platypus. Both of them deserved love.

Seeing his chance, Heinz raced over to Naomi's pod. He anxiously scanned the console on it, hoping against all hopes that he was able to do this procedure without Naomi having to be in the pod. To his relief and surprise, it seemed that it WAS possible.

His fingers began to tap on the console.


	12. Chapter 12

Naomi flopped down on the ground, watching her chest heave up and down. Perry collapsed next to her, doing the same thing.

"You're fast," Perry panted.

"You're only just getting that now?" Naomi chuckled. "I told you: I'm faster, stronger, stealthier, and smarter than any OWCA agent."

"And yet, I still managed to hold my own against you."

Naomi laughed. "Yeah. I have to admit…you're good. You're a worthy opponent, certainly."

Perry looked sideways at her and found her staring at the ceiling, smirking as if remembering a funny memory.

"I wanna take you swimming," Perry blurted out.

Naomi turned to look at him. Before her facial expression changed, he hurriedly added, "I-I mean, not only is swimming is a really big part of being a platypus but it's also really fun and relaxing and I know you've expressed hatred of water in the past but I really think you'd enjoy swimming and I-I know I don't really know you all that well but I honestly want to get to know you more and that has nothing to do with swimming, I'm sorry." Perry finally ran out of breath and had to stop.

Naomi giggled, which wasn't the reaction Perry had been expecting. "I know you're not trying to be malicious," she said. "But there's something you should know about me."

Perry blinked, suddenly scared. "O-okay."

Naomi inhaled deeply. "Professor Roddenstein told me all of this, so I know it's true," she began. "Basically…I'm not genetically enhanced."

Perry frowned confusedly. "That can't be right. No platypus is naturally this skilled without training."

"I'm not genetically enhanced," Naomi repeated. "I-I was genetically made."

Perry's eyes widened. "You…wh-what?!"

"That's why I function on so little sleep, why I have a pod, why I don't know much about the outside world." Naomi looked down at the ground. "Rodney used platypus cells to…well…he essentially grew me out of a petri dish."

Perry's head was buzzing as he tried to take all of this in.

"But he managed to alter my DNA as I was growing," Naomi continued. "He managed to change my basic needs. I don't need to eat or drink at all, though I can physically do it. I only need two or three hours sleep a day. He also made me without the ability to-." She stopped suddenly and turned her head away.

"To what?" Perry asked.

"It doesn't matter." Naomi took another deep breath, before continuing: "Anything that could consume time during a battle was eliminated. Hunger, thirst, the need for sleep."

"Where do you get your energy from?" Perry asked. "I mean, we get our energy from food."

Naomi pointed upwards, and Perry automatically followed her finger. "The sun," she said. "Rodney somehow found a way to fuse some of my cells with cells of a plant. I make my own nutrition using the sun."

"That's…amazing…incredible…that's just…" Perry babbled. "I-incredible…"

"So that's why I didn't want to go into the water," Naomi said quietly. "Rodney altered my DNA so much that almost the only way that I'm a platypus is through looks. I have no idea what the water might do to me."

Perry smiled gently. "What is it that you WANT to do?"

Naomi sighed. "Ideally, I'd like to test it out, but I-I don't think I'm brave enough."

"What if I went with you and helped you?" offered Perry. "Would you be brave enough then?"

Naomi blinked. "P-probably, but why would you do that for me?"

"Because you want to do something that you're not brave enough to do. I've been there, believe me. And when I was there, I wished I had somebody to help me through it, but I didn't. So I want to be there for you so that you don't have to either struggle through it alone or not try it at all. Is that okay?"

"That's really nice of you," Naomi smiled. "Thank you. Should we go now?"

"If that's okay with you."

Naomi smiled and stood up. Immediately, she bent over, clutching her head and groaning. Perry shot up and supported her as she swayed. "Are you okay?" he asked urgently.

Naomi nodded and stood upright. "Something in my programming was just rewritten. I-I felt it."

"Do you know what it was?"

Naomi shook her head.

"Was it Rodney?"

Naomi shook her head again. "It originated from this building. That much I can tell. Anyway, it's fine now. Let's go."

Still a bit concerned about her, Perry followed Naomi out of the building, across the road, and to the park. It was another warm day, so there were many families enjoying the sunshine out in the grass. Perry counted at least five kites.

Naomi went determinedly over to the lake, but that was where her courage ended. She slowly backed away and sat down under a tree, glaring at the water. Perry bit back a grin. "Do you want me to go in first?"

"There's no point," grumbled Naomi. "I know the water isn't going to do anything to you, because you're a REAL platypus."

Perry felt bad at that. After taking off his fedora, he plodded over to Naomi and held out his hand. "Let's do this together, okay?"

Naomi hesitated. For the first time, Perry saw real fear in her face.

"If you don't do it now, you'll never do it," Perry warned. "Trust me."

Naomi hesitated for a moment longer, before slowly taking his hand and allowing him to help her to her feet. He led her over to the lake and stepped in. Naomi paused. "N-now or never, right?"

Perry nodded. "You can do it," he encouraged.

Very slowly, Naomi lifted up her foot and dipped the tip of it into the water.

"Feeling anything?" Perry asked.

"It's cold," she replied, shuddering.

"Any negative side effects?"

"It's cold," Naomi repeated.

Perry sighed. "Okay. Ready to come further in?"

"I can't."

Perry's eyes widened. "Are you okay? Why?"

"Because it's cold."

Perry let out a quiet growl. "Naomi-."

"I'm going, I'm going."

Naomi gently put her entire foot in the water, followed by the other foot. She stood ankle deep in the water, shivering.

"It gets better when you're further in," Perry promised. "If Rodney's designed your fur like a real platypus's, it should act as the best insulator ever. Try it."

Naomi didn't move, so Perry said, "Come on, Naomi. Just try it. Go further in. You fur will protect you from the cold, since that's all you seem to be worried about. Go on, Naomi. Just go in. It won't seem so bad if you-."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Naomi yelled suddenly, wrenching her hand out of Perry's and leaping further into the lake. She disappeared underwater.

"Naomi!" Perry screeched, diving underwater to get her.

However, Naomi surfaced before Perry reached her, so he surfaced too, glaring at her as they both treaded water.

"Were you trying to give me a heart attack?" he demanded.

"I was getting fed up with your nonstop whining at me," Naomi said, though she was grinning. "Check me out: I'm swimming,"

She twisted in the water and dived, swimming gracefully just under the surface for a few metres, before resurfacing and grinning at Perry. "Looks like there's some platypus in my DNA after all."

Just as Perry was about to swim over and join her, he heard a familiar voice call, "Oh, there you are, Perry!"

 _Thank God I took off my fedora,_ he thought, as he turned around with his eyes unfocused.

"Perry?" called Naomi uncertainly.

Perry surreptitiously removed his translator and called to Naomi, "They're my owners and they don't know I'm a secret agent. Please act like a mindless platypus in front of them."

"M-mindless?" stammered Naomi.

"If you can't unfocus your eyes like me, then at least don't talk."

Perry doggy-paddled over to the edge of the lake, climbed out, and shook himself. Immediately, he felt one of the boys pick him up.

"Enjoying a swim, boy?" Phineas grinned. "Who's your friend?"

Perry turned and saw Naomi, eyes unfocused, doggy-paddling towards them. When she reached the bank, Ferb reached in and picked her out. She scrabbled briefly, before spotting Perry, who was lying calmly in Phineas's arms. She had a questioning look on her face.

"It's okay," Perry said to her, which probably sounded like his normal chattering sound to the boys. "Don't struggle."

Naomi looked hesitant, but then Phineas said, "Ferb, look! They're talking to each other! Do you think she's his mate?"

Naomi and Perry both blushed.

"Let's take her home with us," Phineas decided. "We can feed her and make her a special bed!"

As Phineas and Ferb walked away, the former chattering away about new ideas, Naomi gave Perry a look that said _help!_

"Just let them take us," Perry said. "I trust them with my life, Naomi. I promise they'll treat you well."

Naomi nodded, but her facial expression said, _I hope you know what you're doing._

 _I do, Naomi. Trust me._


	13. Chapter 13

Phineas and Ferb took the two platypuses back to their house. Naomi behaved very well for the entire trip, only reacting to things that startled her on the journey.

When they got into the house, the two boys put the platypuses down on the sofa in the living room.

"Hey, remember how our giant magnet got carried away earlier than usual today?" Phineas said. "That leaves the afternoon and evening open. We could build a platypus spa!"

Ferb blinked, looking neither excited nor bored by that idea.

"I mean, we could have a special bathing area, a massage area, a hot tub, a warm swimming pool, everything a platypus needs to relax! It'll be the best day for them ever!"

Phineas raced outside immediately. Ferb glanced down at the two platypuses, before following.

As soon as they were gone, Naomi leapt off the couch as if she thought it was going to eat her and shivered. "That was by far the hardest thing I've ever done."

"Well done, though," Perry said, smiling. "Thank you for playing along. My owners mean the world to me, and I'd have to be sent away if they found out about my secret life."

Naomi looked around the room. "So this is a normal human house, hmm?"

Perry nodded. "Yeah, this is about as typical a house as you can get. What do you think?"

Perry watched as Naomi explored the living room, sweeping the hard surfaces with her fingers and hopping onto the soft surfaces, though only the sofa fitted into that category.

"It's cosy," she said eventually. "I like it. It seems a lot more warm and friendly than Rodney's building."

"It is," Perry said, smiling at the sofa. "I've spent so many nights curled up on the sofa with my boys as they have a movie marathon."

"It must be nice to have people who care about you so much," Naomi said wistfully, gazing sadly at the ground. "Professor Roddenstein is fairly kind to me, but…sometimes it doesn't feel like he even likes me, let alone loves me."

"I really don't like having to say things like this, but Rodney isn't the kind of person to feel even basic emotions, let alone love."

Naomi didn't look surprised. "Yeah, I can tell. I really wish I knew what being loved feels like."

"How do you know you don't?" Perry asked automatically.

Naomi looked at him in surprise. "Are you insinuating that there IS somebody who loves me?"

Perry nodded, holding his breath. "Yes…"

Naomi shook her head. "Well, I can't see it so please enlighten me."

"Oh…" Perry looked away. "N-nothing."

"Sure?"

Perry nodded sadly. "Y-yeah."

Just then, the boys came running back indoors, so the two platypuses unfocused their eyes again and played mindless.

"Finished!" announced Phineas excitedly. "Are you two ready for your spa day?" He turned to Ferb. "You know what I've just realised? We don't know the girl platypus's name!"

Perry paused, trying to think of a way to convey Naomi's name without speaking. But then he saw Phineas go over to Naomi, touch her neck briefly, and say, "Oh, look, Ferb! Her name's Naomi!"

Confused, Perry trotted over to Naomi and saw that the pink platypus had a light purple collar around her neck, with a metal disk that said her name on it. Frowning, Perry wondered how on Earth he had managed to miss that. Then he remembered that his own collar was hidden beneath his fur, so perhaps Naomi did a similar thing.

Ferb picked up Perry and Phineas picked up Perry, and the two boys carried the two platypuses outside, where an outdoor spa had been set up. Their friend Isabella was also there, dressed in a masseuse's outfit and beaming.

"What do you want to do first, Perry?" Phineas asked.

Perry nudged his head in the direction of the hot tub. Naomi stayed completely still and silent.

"Let's put them in the hot tub, Ferb!"

Phineas and Ferb carried Perry and Naomi over to the hot tub and gently lowered them in. Isabella began playing some relaxing music on a flute nearby. It was a bit irritating to Perry that she was hanging around—since now he couldn't chat to Naomi—but he found it so relaxing that after a while, he found himself falling asleep. Opening one eye slightly, he found that Naomi was doing the same. The bubbles gently massaging his entire body, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up, he found that Naomi was awake and leaning on the side of the hot tub, facing away from Perry. "Feeling relaxed?" Perry inquired.

Naomi turned to look at him and smiled. "Very," she said. "Thank you."

"What do you want to do next?" Perry asked.

"Oh, I've already had a massage in the time you were asleep," grinned Naomi. "Two massages, actually."

Perry matched her grin. "Fancy a third one?"

"Heck yes."

A few minutes later, Isabella and a Fireside Girl whom Perry didn't know were massaging the platypuses' backs. If it was possible, Perry was feeling even more relaxed than in the hot tub.

"This is the life," Naomi sighed.

Perry looked at her in alarm. "You're talking!"

"In platypusese, calm down," Naomi grinned.

Perry stared at her in shock. "Wait…you can speak platypusese?"

Naomi nodded. "Of course I can. Every time I've spoken to you since we left Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, I've been speaking platypusese. Did you not even notice the difference?"

"No…" Perry sighed. "Clearly I'm not as observant as I think I am."

"It's fine," Naomi grinned. "Anyway, there's something I wanna discuss with you."

Perry felt a slight nervous twinge in his chest. "Sure…"

"That OWCA party that you mentioned, where people bring a "date"?"

Perry blinked, unsure of what he was expecting. "Yeah?"

"Well…" Naomi blushed, to Perry's further surprise. "I wanted to know who you were going with as your date."

Perry blinked again. "Uh…why?"

"I don't know…" Naomi frowned. "For some reason, I care about that. I don't know why I care about that, but I do. So who are you going with?"

"Nobody at the moment," Perry replied honestly. "But there is someone I'd love to ask."

"Oh…" Naomi looked disappointed. "Okay…when are you going to ask her?"

"Right now."

Naomi looked over at Perry. "But you're with me right now."

Perry grinned. "Exactly. Naomi, do you want to come to the OWCA party as my date?"

"A…r-r-romantic date?" Naomi stammered.

Perry decided to play this safe; he didn't want to scare Naomi off, after all. "Only if you're comfortable with it."

Naomi grinned back at Perry. "I think it'd be a learning experience," she said teasingly. "If nothing else. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep."

With that, she lay her head on her arms and closed her eyes.

Perry tore his gaze away from Naomi and looked up at the sky, his heart pounding in his chest and a broad smile on his face. His entire body felt wobbly. Was this what being in love felt like?

Well, it didn't matter to Perry; not at that moment.

 _Naomi's going to be my date to the OWCA party!_


	14. Chapter 14

When Perry got back to OWCA, he went in search of his male friends. He found Victor loitering by the water cooler near Christina's office. Grabbing his friend's wrist, he dragged the otter, protesting, all the way to Pinky's office, where he found the Chihuahua sitting at his desk. He dumped Victor beside the desk and closed the door.

"Perry, you're scaring me," Victor stated, unnerved.

"I have a serious problem," Perry groaned.

Pinky and Victor exchanged a terrified look.

"I have a date to the OWCA party, and I-."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Victor interrupted. "Hold the metaphorical phone, back up the metaphorical bus, hold your metaphorical horses!"

Perry closed his beak.

"You have a date to the OWCA party?!" Pinky gasped. "Who?!"

"Yeah, that's what I'd like to know," Victor agreed, eyes narrowed. "I overheard at least six female agents talking at lunchtime today and all of them said you'd rejected them."

Perry coughed, embarrassed. "Yeah…well, Naomi isn't an OWCA agent."

"Naomi?" repeated Pinky. "Who IS Naomi, then?"

"She's just a platypus I know from around," Perry lied. "She-she kind of captured my heart."

"AWW!" Pinky squealed, grabbing Perry in a tight grip. "That's so cute! Can we meet her?"

"We're going to the OWCA party together, so I guess you will," grinned Perry. "But that leads me onto the serious problem."

"Yeah, since getting a date to the OWCA party when you've rejected every girl in OWCA is literally the opposite of a series problem," Victor said, folding his arms. "What exactly is this problem?"

"I have nothing to wear."

The problem was finally out in the open, and Perry wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting from his friends.

Victor opened his mouth and closed it again, while Pinky hummed in thought. "That's difficult."

"I didn't make any arrangements for a suit because I thought I wouldn't be going," Perry confessed. "I really need your help, guys. Where did you get your suits?"

"Furry Fashions," replied Victor immediately. "Best tailor shop for animals ever."

"We're different sizes to the normal mammal sizes they have in stock, so we had to pre-order our suits," added Pinky. "But you're just about the right size, so if you come with us when we go over to get our suits this afternoon, I'm sure they'll be able to find something suitable."

"Thanks so much," Perry breathed. "I was so worried. Wait…" He frowned at Victor. "Who are YOU going to the party with, Victor?"

"Nobody in particular," sighed Victor. "I-I confess I was hoping to make a good impression on Christina."

"Nothing's changed recently between you two, has it?" Perry asked resignedly.

"No." Victor bowed his head. "And that's a problem. Every time we try to talk to each other, one of us ends up yelling at the other."

"That IS a problem," agreed Pinky. "How about we think about this on the way to get our suits?"

…

"I had no idea this clothes shop even existed," Perry stated, walking into the Furry Fashions shop in the centre of Danville.

"All OWCA agents come here if ever they need anything," Victor said. "Professionals work here."

No sooner had they walked in the door than a peppy panda bounded up to them, wearing a cute little uniform. "Welcome to Furry Fashions! My name is Patty, and I'll be serving you today."

"You're Peter's older sister, aren't you?" Perry asked, frowning.

Patty nodded. "You must be that platypus he hates."

Perry sighed. "Yep, that's me. Do you have anything in the way of suits?"

"Of course we do," beamed Patty, taking hold of Perry's paw and beginning to drag him away. "Right this way. And what about you two gentlemen?"

Victor and Pinky both immediately pointed in the direction of the pickup counter.

"Looks like you two are sorted." Patty continued pulling Perry until they reached a section that was full of suits: black, white, grey, even pink, some of them.

"Very Great Gatsby-ish," commented Perry dryly.

"Great who?" Patty looked confused.

Perry chuckled. "Nobody. Anyway, which colour do you think would go best on me?"

"Hmm…" Patty circled Perry, humming in thought. "I wouldn't say grey. Either white or black, so you should probably try a couple of both." She grabbed two random ones off the rail and held them both against Perry. "Hmm…not bad…"

"Uh…" Perry had never felt more awkward in his life. "P-Patty, would you mind if I tried these on alone? It's just-."

"Oh, you don't have to explain!" Patty smiled warmly, handing the two suits to Perry. "I'm staff, so I have to obey customers. If you want to be left alone, then I'll go. I'll wait over by the changing rooms so if you want to try anything on or have any inquiries, you can come to me."

"Thanks, Patty."

As she walked away, Perry turned back to the rail and put back the two suits that Patty had selected. It wasn't that he didn't trust her judgement; it was simply that Perry valued his best friends' opinion more because they had known him for longer.

He tried looking in the mirror and holding up a few suits against himself, but nothing seemed to suit him. He was ready to quit when he heard his best friends' voices coming from behind him.

"Why don't you go for a pink suit?" teased Pinky, as he and Victor walked into the suit section.

"Because pink is more your colour," Victor retorted, smirking. "It's even in your name."

"Ha-ha," Perry said monotonously. "Can we stop this witty banter and focus on the fact that I'm about to have a mental breakdown because of these stupid bits of fabric?"

"See, that's your problem," Pinky said, poking Perry's side. "You only think of suits as clothing."

Perry raised an eyebrow. "They're not clothing?"

Pinky rolled his eyes. "I'm saying that suits aren't just clothing, they're _fashion._ "

Perry glanced at Victor, who shrugged. "Not even I know what he's talking about," the otter said.

Pinky sighed. "Look, guys. Suits aren't just clothing. Sure, they go on your body and you wear them. But they aren't just things you wear. People SEE you wearing them, so you need to think of them almost as accessories. Suits are as much for others as they are for you. Do you get it?"

"I think I'm getting there," Perry admitted.

"I feel completely enlightened," Victor deadpanned.

Pinky elbowed his side and addressed Perry: "Just go for whichever suit you feel the best vibe from."

Perry put the suit he was holding back on the rail and looked round the small section of suits. One in particular caught his eye: it was a simple black one, with spaces for cufflinks in the jacket, and it came with its own bow tie. He felt himself drawn to it, so he walked over to it and traced the fabric with his fingers. Unlike a few of the others he had looked at, the fabric felt very smooth and silky, and it looked comfortable.

"I think I've found it," he said. "The one I want."

"Why don't you try it on?" Pinky suggested, grinning at Victor, who glanced confusedly back at him. "Looks like my advice worked," the Chihuahua said smugly to the otter, as Perry headed to the changing room.

"Dude, I have no idea what your advice even meant. I'm just glad I wasn't choosing my suit today too, or I'd probably have walked out of here with a dress."

Pinky burst out laughing. "That I would pay to see."

"Don't waste your hard-earned money."

That just made Pinky laugh again. The Chihuahua was still laughing when Perry emerged from the changing room, wearing his suit. Pinky sobered up immediately and looked the platypus over with appreciation.

Victor gave a whistle. "Nice. Your Naomi will love this."

Perry smiled shyly. "Do you really think she will?"

"Let's put it this way: if I was a girl, I'd be begging you to go to the party with ME instead of her," Victor said, grinning.

Perry matched his grin. "You're weird."

"I know. Anyway, does Naomi have a dress?"

Perry stared at him. He hadn't thought of that. "N-no…she doesn't…"

"Don't look so scared," chuckled Victor. "I was only asking because Pinky told me that Tess and Christina are going dress shopping tomorrow, and I was thinking that Naomi could go with them."

"She doesn't know them, though," Perry said doubtfully. "And she's pretty wary of strangers. But she does need a dress…"

"Then it's settled," Victor said, smiling. "But Pinky will have to ask Tess…" He glanced at the Chihuahua, who sighed.

"Man, you're gonna have to talk to Christina at SOME point."

Victor growled. "I know, I know!"

"I'll ask Tess," Pinky said hurriedly. "I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

Perry couldn't help beaming.

Everything was coming together!


	15. Chapter 15

After they had split up at Phineas and Ferb's house, Naomi had gone back to DEI. Doctor Doof was nowhere in sight, so she decided to train for a while.

It was a couple of hours later that Perry found her, smacking the punching bag over and over again.

"Hi, Naomi," he called from a distance, so as not to startle her.

She delivered the bag a flying kick, knocking it right over, then turned and smiled at Perry. "Hey," she said. "Where'd you go?"

"Suit shopping," Perry replied. "And speaking of shopping, two of my female OWCA friends are going dress shopping, and I was wondering if you'd like to go with them?"

Naomi frowned. "What's a dress?"

Perry stared at her briefly, before reminding himself of her little knowledge of the outside world. He grabbed his cell phone, searched a picture of a random dress, and showed it to her. "It's something girls wear to parties."

"Oh." Naomi didn't look too eager at the prospect of wearing a dress. "It looks like it'll constrict movement quite a lot, but if that's what girls wear to parties, then I won't break the tradition."

Perry smiled. "Great. Oh, and my sister is going too. You remember Paris, right?"

"That loud platypus who looks like you?" Naomi nodded. "Yeah, I remember her. Who are the other two?"

"Tess the Toller and Christina the Bobcat, the latter of whom is one of my best friends." Perry patted Naomi on the shoulder. "I know they'll like you."

Naomi grinned feebly. "They better."

…

After Perry finished explaining to his female friends, who had met him in the middle of the field at the back of OWCA (to avoid Naomi having to actually go inside the HQ), he brought Naomi to meet them.

Tess was very enthusiastic. She gave Naomi a large, furry hug, further intensifying Naomi's awkwardness. Paris, on the other hand, also seemed awkward around Naomi and stayed away from her.

Victor, who had come along with Perry, was hanging back from the group, occasionally glancing at Christina. He hadn't been close to her since their last argument.

Christina freed Naomi from Tess's hug and offered her a friendly paw. "Nice to meet you. My name is Christina."

Naomi smiled a genuine smile, sensing that she would probably get along better with mature Christina than hyper Tess or shy Paris. "Hi, Christina. This is all a bit new for me, so…thank you for agreeing to have me along."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all." Christina was also smiling genuinely. "Sometimes these two are more than I can handle." She gestured with her paw towards Tess and Paris. "Would you like to leave now?"

Naomi nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, that would be good."

She glanced towards Perry, who hugged her briefly. "You'll be fine, okay?"

Naomi nodded again. "Yeah. Thanks."

As they began walking away, Perry called, "Hey, Christina! Are you guys getting corsages?"

Christina glanced back and shook her head. "No. Shop-made ones are terrible, and we haven't got time to make our own."

Victor's head shot up at that. Cogs turning in his head, he turned and raced back into the OWCA HQ. Perry watched him go, wondering what his friend was up to now.

…

"Furry Fashions?" Naomi read, staring up at the sign. "That's the stupidest name ever."

"I like it," beamed Tess. "Alliterative, bold, says exactly what it is."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Of course."

But as soon as they got inside, Naomi was captivated by the amount of beautiful dresses that she saw. Her beak wide open in wonder, she ran to the nearest rail and felt the smooth material of a purple dress. It was silky and looked beautiful.

Christina placed her paw on Naomi's shoulder. "There are so many choices here," Naomi said in wonder. "How can people choose? She sighed. "Ch-Christina, will you help me choose one?"

Christina smiled. "Of course, Naomi."

Naomi shuddered. That was the first time a female voice had said her name within her hearing. "What colour do you think would suit me?" she asked.

Christina hummed in thought, taking in Naomi's pink fur. "Perhaps white or yellow." She turned to the rail, rifled through it, and picked out a plain, white, knee-length dress with a swishy skirt. She held it against Naomi and inspected it. "This looks nice. What do you think?"

Naomi took the hanger and turned to look in the mirror. She frowned. "I don't know…"

"You can try it on, if you want," Christina said, indicating the changing rooms with her paw. "I'll look round for one for me while you do that."

Naomi nodded and headed over to the changing rooms. Christina looked through the dresses on the rail, looking for a dress that she would like. She was mainly looking for the colour cream or beige, but a yellow floor-length dress with a pink sash caught her eye. Just as she was holding it against herself and looking in the mirror, Naomi came back, wearing the dress she had picked. She looked very self-conscious, but Christina couldn't stop staring at her. The white of the dress and the pink of her fur went very well together.

"You look great!" Christina enthused, bounding over to her.

"I feel weird," Naomi muttered. "I've never worn one of these things before."

"Well, you look great," Christina assured her. "Have you looked in the mirror?"

Naomi nodded. "It looks good, I think."

Christina smiled. "Good. Now, wait here while I try mine on."

As Naomi watched Christina go into the changing rooms, she spotted Perry's sister coming out, wearing a red and green tartan dress that twirled when she spun. Grinning, she came over to Naomi. "Looking good," she approved.

Naomi smiled. "Thank you. You too."

"Guess this is a new experience for you, huh?" Paris said sympathetically, sensing Naomi's awkwardness.

"Yes, but it…" She paused briefly. "It's a good experience so far."

Paris grinned. "If you think THIS is a good experience, wait 'til the actual party."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"So should you be," Christina said, rejoining the group. "OWCA's anniversary parties are always incredible. THIS one is the hundredth anniversary, so you can bet they'll be going all out."

"I can't wait to see it," Naomi said. "But I'm also nervous about it. I mean…everything is so new for me."

Christina and Paris glanced at each other. Perry had only told Paris Naomi's entire past. Christina, Tess, Victor, and Pinky only knew that Naomi had been kept inside for her entire life, so experiences like these were completely new to her—which wasn't exactly a lie.

"We'll be with you," Christina promised. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Tess before she tries on every dress in the shop."

Naomi grinned as Christina walked away. Paris put her paw on Naomi's shoulder. "You pleased with the dress?"

Naomi looked down at it and nodded. "Yes, very. I feel like I can do anything wearing this."

"Like dancing with my brother at the party?"

Naomi laughed. "Yes, even that."


	16. Chapter 16

The day of the OWCA party was finally here. Perry was checking in with his friends at OWCA, before he was due to meet Naomi at Phineas and Ferb's house.

Just as he was about to knock on Victor's office door, the otter appeared from behind him. Perry frowned confusedly. "What are you doing?"

"I…uh…" Victor hesitated, holding something behind his back. "I have something for Christina. Do you think she'll like it?"

"I don't know what it is," Perry pointed out.

Victor reluctantly pulled his hands out from behind his back. In his paws was a small corsage, made of twosmall roses, two bluebells, and a honeysuckle flower. Perry couldn't stop staring at it. "Victor, did…did you make this?"

Victor nodded, looking ashamed. "Christina said she wanted a homemade corsage but didn't have time to make it. Since clearly actions speak louder than words, I was hoping that if I gave this to Christina, she'd see it as a peace offering and she'll know that I really am sorry."

Perry was still staring at the beautiful flower corsage. "Victor…did you MAKE this?!"

The otter frowned. "Uh, I think we've already established that. Do you think she'll like it?"

"It-it's beautiful!" Perry lifted it up painstakingly and inspected it. "Are these honeysuckles?"

Victor nodded. "I looked up our starsigns and the flowers those correspond to. I'm an Aries, which is signified by honeysuckle flowers, so I included one of those. Christina is a Libra, which is signified by bluebells and roses, so I included two of each." Victor stared anxiously at it as Perry looked at it. Eventually, he snatched it back and groaned. "She'll hate it."

Perry snatched it away from Victor. "No she won't," he said firmly, holding it above Victor's head as the otter tried to jump for it. "Promise you'll give it to her."

"Can't," Victor said, jumping for the corsage but missing. "I'm Victor the Coward and I'll probably lose my nerve."

"Then I'll give it to her and say it's from Terry," threatened Perry.

Victor froze, eyeing Perry. "You're so mean," he whined.

A half-smirk appeared on Perry's face. "I know."

Victor sighed and grabbed the corsage back. "Fine, I'll do it. But…can you come with me?"

Perry was about to refuse when he saw the look on Victor's face. It was pleading, naturally, but there was a very definite undertone of fear there. Victor was genuinely afraid, borderline terrified. There was real fear reflected in his brown eyes. Fear of losing someone. Fear of disappointing someone. Fear of being rejected by someone.

"You really love her, don't you?" Perry said sympathetically.

Victor nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Yeah. I-I really do, Perry. But because of one idiotic moment, there's a chance I've lost her forever. Please help me win her back."

Perry nodded back. "Alright. Let's go find her."

He took his friend's paw and led him in the direction of Christina's office. The silver bobcat was coming out of the cubicle when they saw her. Her face brightened when she spotted them, but it just as quickly settled into a pained expression, which pained both Victor AND Perry in turn.

"Chris, do you have a moment?" Perry asked.

Christina avoided meeting either the platypus's or the otter's eyes. "Actually, Tess, Paris, and Naomi are all getting ready and I was about to join them."

"This won't take long," Perry promised. "Victor has something for you."

He moved behind Victor and nudged the otter in Christina's direction. Victor awkwardly revealed the corsage from behind his back. Christina gasped and her eyes shone when she saw it.

"I-I regret my actions the other day a lot," Victor said nervously. "I w-was just jealous because Terry asked you out first. I shouldn't have acted as if I expected you to be available when I eventually asked you to the party, and I-I really was going to ask you to the party. I was just scared because I didn't want you to reject me and I didn't know how our friendship was going to be affected if you DID reject me. To be honest, I think my actions may have hurt me more than they hurt you. I've been unable to stop thinking about the incident since it happened. The truth is…I care about you a lot, and I-I'm really sorry for all the hurt I've caused you."

He paused for breath as Perry anxiously watched Christina's expressionless face. She was clutching the corsage tightly, thinking hard. "Victor," she said eventually. "I appreciate the gift, but…" She hesitated, giving Perry the impression that she was trying to choose her words very carefully. "I-I can't shake the feeling that all you want is to make up so that I'll go to the party with you."

"What?" Victor's eyes widened. "No, that's not what I-!"

Christina sharply held up her paw, halting the otter's speech. "Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But even when you were apologising, I could sense an ulterior motive. Even if it wasn't there, I don't think I can be around someone who makes me feel like that. I-I'm so sorry, Victor, but…I think it would be best if we don't spend any time around each other for a while. Let's…let's just keep our distance for the foreseeable future, okay?"

Victor's shoulders slumped, and his throat felt sore, but he managed to say, "O-okay…"

"It…it might have to be permanent," Christina added, her voice growing hoarse as her eyes darted down to the ground. "I-I'm having trouble even looking at you right now…"

Victor opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out except a squeaked, "P-please don't do this…"

Tears sprang to Christina's eyes. She covered her eyes with her forearm and quickly hurried away.

Perry stepped forwards and put his paw on his best friend's shoulder. "Victor…"

Victor slowly sank to his knees and formed a ball shape, his forehead pressed against the carpet as he began crying. Perry knelt down by his side and put his arms around the grieving otter.

"Victor-."

"I lost her," Victor cried. "I lost her forever, Perry. She-she couldn't even look at me."

Perry didn't have anything to say that could make his best friend feel better, and it was killing him inside.

"Why does it hurt so much, Perry?" moaned Victor. "Do you know why? I do. It's because this is all my fault. I've obliterated my chance of being with her through my own actions. I-it's my fault…it's all my fault…"

He dissolved into sobbing.

Perry gently lifted him to his feet. "I need to go meet Naomi, but you should go to the medical bay," he said gently. "Okay?"

Victor either didn't or couldn't answer, so Perry half-carried half-dragged his best friend all the way to the medical bay, where Apollo took one look at the state Victor was in and gave him a bed.

With one last look back at his suffering friend, Perry left to meet up with Naomi.


	17. Chapter 17

**WARNING: mentions of self-harm in this chapter.**

…

Perry's thoughts were still on Victor even as he entered Phineas and Ferb's house. It was evening time, but the Flynn-Fletchers were all out at some event or another, so Perry had the house to himself.

Even though he hated baths, he gave himself one. OWCA's hundredth anniversary only came around once, after all. He used the special shampoo that the boys had bought him a while ago, the one that smelt like vanilla.

When he saw Naomi coming up the path, he knew he was finally ready.

He ran downstairs on all fours and nearly fell down the last few steps. He scrambled onto two feet, opened the door, and stopped and stared.

Naomi's pink fur was neatly brushed and it shone like the sun was shining out from it. Her eyes and face displayed a little bit of makeup. Her white dress was elegant and clean, and her orange webbed feet were resting in white heeled shoes. She smiled shyly and clasped her hands together. "Hi, Perry. Do I…do I look okay?"

"Okay doesn't even begin to describe it," Perry said, unable to stop staring at her. "In fact, I don't think there are any words to properly describe the way you look right now."

Naomi smiled. "Thank you, Perry. I feel fairly self-conscious, though."

"Don't be." Perry took her hand. "You look amazing, and more. You'll knock them all dead."

Naomi stared at him in alarm. "I don't want to kill anyone there!"

Perry laughed. "Don't worry, it's just an expression. It means everyone's going to love you."

Naomi's face broke out into a relieved smile. "Oh, thank you. I really hope so."

Perry smiled and offered her his arm. She linked arms with him, and they headed over to Perry's hovercar, which he had left hidden by the tree in the backyard.

…

After flying to OWCA, Perry parked the hovercar on the lawn and hopped out, helping Naomi out too. He looked up at the main hall. Even from outside, Perry could see rotating lights shining through the windows, and the beat of music shook the building.

"The music sounds very loud," Naomi said doubtfully.

"It'll be fine; not every song is as loud as this one," Perry assured her, before catching sight of one of his friends standing by the entrance. "Look, there's Victor!"

Perry pulled Naomi up to the front door. The otter was wearing a light grey suit with a white bowtie. His expression was sombre, but when he saw Perry approaching, he put on a weak smile. "Looking good," he said. "Both of you."

"I like your suit," Naomi said shyly, holding out her paw. "I'm Naomi. I don't think we really met the other day."

"No, we didn't." Victor attempted a grin. "I'm Victor."

As Victor held out his paw to shake Naomi's, Perry caught sight of an almost-invisible bandage around his wrist. Or, at least, it WOULD have been almost invisible if it was not stained red.

Perry intercepted Victor's hand before he could shake Naomi's, and held it up in front of Victor's face, clearly displaying the red bandage. "What is this?" he demanded.

Victor looked both panicked and ashamed at the same time. "N-nothing. I just cut myself with a knife earlier."

"And was it an accident?" Perry asked sternly.

Victor hesitated, not wanting to lie to his best friend, but knowing he couldn't tell the truth either. Luckily—or unluckily—his silence was enough of an answer.

"Victor!" Perry gasped in shock. "D-did you cut yourself on purpose?!"

Even Naomi was staring at Victor in horror.

The otter bowed his head. "It was an outlet," he muttered. "For my self-loathing."

"You have got to stop blaming yourself for what happened with Christina!" Perry grabbed his best friend's shoulders and shook him frantically. "And don't you DARE think about hurting yourself again, okay?"

Victor closed his eyes, hoping he wouldn't cry.

Perry grabbed Victor in a tight hug. "If you ever want to do this to yourself again, come tell me, and I'll drop whatever it is I'm doing and help you, okay? You don't have to suffer alone. And if you get the urge to…do something worse…whether to yourself or to others…don't be afraid of me judging you. I love you, Victor. You're my best friend in the whole world. All I want to do is help and support you. Okay?"

Victor nodded tearfully. "O-okay…"

As Perry pulled back, Naomi suddenly said, "Do YOU have a date to this party?"

Victor shook his head. "I left it too late. Why?"

"Would you like Perry and me to be your dates?" Naomi asked earnestly.

Perry facepalmed as Victor snorted. "That's not entirely how dates work, but thank you for thinking of me. I'll just mingle, or even share a dance with your sister," he added jokingly to Perry.

The teal platypus scowled at him. "Watch it, okay? She has a boyfriend."

"I was joking."

"Oo-kay."

Perry took Naomi's arm and led her inside. As they reached the entrance to the main hall, they saw that Carl the intern was standing outside with a clipboard. "Ah, Agent P. And who's this?" he asked.

"My plus one," Perry said.

"His date," Naomi said straight after. "I'm Naomi."

Carl's eyebrows rose, but he simply checked off Perry's name and said, "Go on in, Agent P."

Perry took Naomi's hand and led her into the main hall.

The rotating lights shone in Naomi's eyes for a brief moment, but when she was able to see the room, she gasped. It was beautiful; everything was colourful and full of life. There was a refreshments table on the stage, a DJ station over in the corner, and a dance floor with neon lights. Many animals were already on the dance floor.

Perry spotted Paris and a teal platypus whom Perry assumed was Pascal standing by the refreshments table. Pinky and Tess were dancing together. Christina was also dancing with Terry on the dance floor. Victor was standing off to the side, wistfully watching Christina.

"This is amazing!" Naomi gasped. "What are we going to do first?"

"Talk," Perry said before he could stop himself, pulling Naomi to a quieter corner of the hall.

Naomi frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Naomi, I don't know how to say this, so I'll just come out with it. Ever since I first laid eyes on you, I've had a crush on you. Since we spent that day together at the park, that crush has grown into real feelings. I don't care about your past or your origins. I-I l-l-love you, Naomi."

Naomi looked startled, but the longer Perry gazed at her, the more she knew exactly what he was talking about. "I had heard about the concept of love," she began. "Being artificial, I didn't know if I could feel it. But…spending time with you has been magical. I've suspected it for a while, but tonight, I'm certain. Despite the fact I barely even know what love is, there's no denying it: I love you too, Perry."

Perry's heart leapt. "Do you know what a kiss is?" he asked shyly.

Naomi blushed. "Y-yes…do you wish to engage in one?"

"That sounds like you're challenging me," grinned Perry. ""Do you wish to engage in a k-"."

Before he could finish the sentence, Naomi pulled Perry forwards and kissed him.


	18. Chapter 18

**The song in this chapter is Can I Have This Dance? by Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron. I do not own it.**

...

"Now, come on." Perry began pulling Naomi onto the dance floor. "Let's dance."

Naomi dug in her heels, stopping him, a frightened look on her face. "I-I can't dance…"

Perry paused, remembering how new Naomi was to all of this. He smiled. "I'll teach you. You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes." Naomi hesitated.

"Grab a partner, folks!" came the DJ's voice. "It's time for the slow dance!"

"It's now or never," Perry said.

Naomi sighed. "I'll try…"

She allowed Perry to lead her onto the dance floor as the song began:

 _Take my hand, take a breath_

 _Pull me close and take one step_

 _Keep your eyes locked on mine_

 _And let the music be your guide_

 _Won't you promise me?_

 _(Now won't you promise me?)_

 _(That you'll never forget)_

 _We'll keep dancing_

 _(To keep dancing)_

 _Wherever we go next_

As the song went on, Naomi found herself getting into a rhythm. Dancing was easy when she was with Perry; he was a great partner.

 _It's like catching lightning, the chances of finding_

 _Someone like you_

 _It's one in a million, the chances of feeling_

 _The way we do_

 _And with every step together_

 _We just keep on getting better_

 _So can I have this dance?_

 _(Can I have this dance?)_

 _Can I have this dance?_

 _Take my hand, I'll take the lead_

 _And every turn will be safe with me_

 _Don't be afraid, afraid to fall_

 _You know I'll catch you through it all_

 _And you can't keep us apart_

 _(Even a thousand miles can't keep us apart)_

 _'Cause my heart is wherever you are_

 _It's like catching lightning, the chances of finding_

 _Someone like you_

 _It's one in a million, the chances of feeling_

 _The way we do_

 _And with every step together_

 _We just keep on getting better_

 _So can I have this dance?_

 _(Can I have this dance?)_

 _Can I have this dance?_

Perry twirled Naomi gently, both of them unaware that Victor, Christina, Pinky, and Tess were all watching them from different places, all of them smiling at their friend.

 _Oh, no mountain's too high and no ocean's too wide_

 _'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop_

 _Let it rain, let it pour, what we have is worth fighting for_

 _You know I believe that we were meant to be! Oh!_

 _It's like catching lightning, the chances of finding_

 _Someone like you_

 _It's one in a million, the chances of feeling_

 _The way we do_

 _And with every step together_

 _We just keep on getting better_

 _So can I have this dance?_

 _(Can I have this dance?)_

 _Can I have this dance?_

 _Can I have this dance?_

 _Can I have this dance?_

As the song finished, Perry gazed into Naomi's beautiful eyes. The last time he had truly looked at her this closely was when she had been about to kill him. But now, he was convinced that there was nobody he wanted to spend his life with more, regardless of her past or origin. He leaned closer to Naomi, who brought her own head forwards so that their foreheads were touching. "I love you," murmured Perry.

"I love you too."

All of a sudden, there came the crackling sound of the PA system coming to life. Everybody stood to attention, but there was an instant hush when a high-pitched nasal voice came out of the speakers instead of Major Monogram's voice. "Hello OWCA! I'm sorry to break up the party, I truly am. Especially because of that last dance."

"Rodney," growled Perry.

"But enough pleasantries. I believe there is a guest down there somewhere who has a job to do."

Naomi began shaking in Perry's arms. "Oh no…!" she gasped, beginning to breathe shallowly. "Not now…! Not tonight…! Not tonight!"

"You have done very well, Naomi," said Rodney's voice, causing everyone in the room to turn towards the pink platypus, who was staring in horror up at the speaker and didn't seem to notice. "You did your infiltration part very well. Now: attack. I trust you have your scythe."

Naomi suddenly jerked out of Perry's arms. "Stay back!" she screamed as Perry stepped forwards, worried. She was hunched over, clearly fighting with herself.

The crowd of agents dithered, unsure of what to do. "Get back!" Perry yelled, gesturing with his hands.

Nobody moved.

A second later, Naomi charged towards Terry and Christina. Her eyes had turned red, and her non-laser scythe was now in her hands. Victor appeared out of nowhere and pulled Christina out of the way, leaving Naomi's scythe to hit the wall where Terry had been moments before. Naomi wheeled about and bared her teeth at the assembled crowd.

Then the fire alarm and fire sprinklers went off.

There was a mass panic as everyone screamed and stampeded towards the exit. Only a select few agents, including Perry, stayed.

Naomi wheeled on the teal platypus, her scythe blade glinting. She attacked Perry with it, who was just a millisecond too slow. Perry gasped in pain as the sharp blade cut his arm. It wasn't a deep cut but it was enough to draw blood. Perry dropped to his knees, clutching his wound. Through the spray, he saw Naomi advancing on him, red eyed.

Then Victor jumped onto Naomi's back and pulled her away from Perry. "Leave him alone!"

Naomi spun round and dislodged Victor, sending the otter flying into a wall, but Christina—still dressed in her fancy long dress—kicked the scythe out of Naomi's hand. Paris the Platypus—also dressed in a similar dress—leapt to help her. As the three females furiously fought, Perry struggled to his feet and used his bow tie as a temporary bandage for his wound. Across the room, Victor was attempting to get up, when suddenly Naomi backflipped across the room, grabbed her scythe, and swept Christina and Paris into Victor, knocking all three of them to the floor. Then Naomi began attacking the support pillar that was the only thing holding the ceiling up, apart from the walls.

Perry yelled, "Naomi!" and raced towards his lover, but all she did was kick him in the chest and send him into the pile of agents too. "Naomi, enough!" Perry yelled.

Suddenly, Naomi's red eyes faded back to brown and she dropped the scythe in shock. "P-Perry, what-?"

Then the support pillar collapsed, bringing the ceiling with it.

Naomi screamed in horror and lunged towards them. She stood above them, her arms raised as if to catch the ceiling, but of course she wasn't strong enough.

The ceiling collapsed on the five animals.


	19. Chapter 19

Perry woke with a gasp of pain and jerked into a sitting position, invoking more pain. He winced and rubbed the back of his head. "Gah…"

He noticed that he was not in the medical bay of OWCA. He was in an individual room that looked like part of a ward. This looked like AMF: the Advanced Medical Facility. The place where Apollo was trained and where he sometimes worked on special cases.

Then one of the nurses, Marika Gorski, came into the room, holding a clipboard. "You're awake," she noted. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a house fell on my head," replied Perry.

"Close," chuckled Marika. "Quite close."

"Where's Naomi?" Perry demanded suddenly. "And Paris? And my friends?"

Marika hesitated.

"Tell me!" Perry shouted making Marika flinch.

"They're all here in the hospital," Marika replied.

"Christina has a broken wrist and several broken ribs," answered Marika. "Paris has a severe concussion and a broken leg. V-Victor…"

Marika's hesitation made Perry's heart both speed up and go cold. "What's happened to him?" His voice became shrill and hoarse at the same time, creating an odd sound.

"A-a piece of debris fell on his lower back," Marika replied, only just holding her tears back. "He-he's been paralysed. He won't ever walk again."

A lump rose in Perry's throat and a strong wave of nausea swept through his chest. "N-never walk again," he repeated numbly.

"I'm so sorry."

"A-and Naomi?"

Marika turned away and closed her eyes, two tears trickling down her face. "She's in a coma."

"What?" gasped Perry.

"She took the brunt of the collapse, Perry. Her head was hit very hard. It's caused severe damage to her brain and left her in a coma."

"She took the brunt?" Perry frowned, his fuzzy brain trying to at the same time process this and remember what happened. "She-she was standing away from the collapse. She…she _caused_ the collapse!"

"I'm sorry, Perry."

Perry frowned in thought for a moment longer, before determinedly pulling back the covers and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"I must ask you to stay put," Marika said immediately, stepping forwards. "You have a concussion and various injuries all over your body."

"I need to see my friends," Perry said, sliding off the bed.

"You must stay-."

"I am OWCA's top agent," snapped Perry. "My authority overrides yours. If I say I need to see my friends, then that is what I am going to do."

Marika flinched, but Perry was feeling terrible for saying that anyway. He hated using his status as OWCA's top agent to get what he wanted, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Marika stepped aside as Perry shuffled out of the hospital room. Nurses and doctors and patients were travelling the corridor, most of the latter being animals. He spotted Apollo heading quickly into one of the rooms, so he followed the doctor. As he pushed open the door, he saw a pink shape lying still on the bed. Apollo was bending over it, doing something.

"A-Apollo," Perry croaked, his voice almost leaving him.

The doctor looked up and spotted him. "Perry, you should be resting," he said, not entirely stern.

"I need to see Naomi," Perry begged. "Please."

"She's…" Apollo bit his lip. "She's close to death, I won't sugar-coat it. I don't know how much longer she'll survive for."

"Then I have to see her," Perry said pleadingly. "Please…"

Apollo hesitated. "Look, I still have some work here to do, so why don't you go visit your other friends and then come back?"

Perry grimaced, wishing he could see Naomi now, but he DID want to check on Paris, Victor, and Christina too. Especially Victor, who…who…

Perry quickly hurried out of Naomi's room and asked a passing nurse where Victor was. After being pointed to the right room, he put his hand on the door handle, ready to go in. But he stopped, scared of what he would find. What state was Victor in? Did Perry really want to find out?

 _…_ _yes…he's my best friend…_

Slowly, he turned the handle and opened the door.

The first thing he saw was Christina sitting on a chair next to the bed. Her grey fur was pale. Bandages laced her chest, and her right wrist was strapped up in a cast. She glanced up as Perry came in, a bit of colour flowing into her cheeks. "Oh, Perry!" she gasped, leaping up and throwing her arms around his neck. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," Perry said quietly, holding her comfortingly. "Yourself?"

Christina pulled back suddenly, clutching her chest. "Sore, so I'm not sure why I leapt at you like that."

Perry's eyes happened to flick upwards, and he caught sight of Victor. The light grey otter was lying on the bed, his legs in elevated casts, his eyes closed. Perry felt tears prick behind his eyelids.

Christina saw what he was looking at. Her own eyes filled with tears as she gazed down at Victor. "He woke up a few minutes ago but he was too tired to stay awake. His-his legs…he said he couldn't feel his legs…"

"Marika said he'll never walk again," Perry whispered. "Wh-why did this have to happen?"

"It happened because your Naomi attacked us," Christina snarled.

Perry was about to defend Naomi, but he remembered that Christina didn't know about her past. It nearly killed him to stay silent and not say anything to defend Naomi, but he had to keep her secret.

Christina walked over to the bed and took hold of Victor's hand. At her touch, Victor stirred. "Christina…?" he murmured.

"I'm here," Christina said soothingly, stroking his paw. "I'm here, Victor."

"You…okay…?"

"I'm fine." Christina smiled weakly. "Thanks to you. You saved my life."

Victor's eyes slowly opened, focusing on Christina. "You're…welcome…" he rasped.

Perry decided to give them some peace. As he stepped into the corridor and closed the door behind him, he caught sight of Paris, and he got a fright. His twin sister's leg was in a cast, but despite this, she was doggedly crawling along the ground, despite Marika Gorski's attempts to pick her up. "Perry!" she shouted hoarsely.

As Perry ran over to her, Marika snapped, "Paris, you must get back to bed! Your concussion will only get worse!"

"I'll leave when I've spoken to my brother!" snarled Paris. She reached up and grasped Perry's hand. "Perry, Naomi's…she's…"

"In a coma," Perry said sadly. "I know. Are YOU okay, Paris?"

"I don't care about me right now," Paris said, shrugging Marika off. "I think there's a way to save Naomi."

Perry stared at her in shock. "R-really?! What?!"

"Her pod," Paris replied, again shaking Marika's hands off her. "I know it's a REALLY long shot, but if there's no other alternative, then I think putting her in her pod might save her."

Perry made a face, humming in thought. "It's…it's worth a try. I'll ask Apollo if we can move her."

Paris nodded, and finally allowed Marika to pick her up and take her back to her room.

Hardly daring to hope, Perry raced back towards Naomi's room. As he ran, only one thought occupied his mind:

 _I MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE NAOMI!_


	20. Chapter 20

Apollo hesitated, his gaze flickering to Naomi's still form on the bed. "Perry, I don't think moving her is a good idea right now."

"But this might be the only way to save her!" Perry protested desperately. "P-please, Apollo. She-she's going to die if we do nothing. Th-this is the only chance she has."

Apollo looked, torn, between Perry and Naomi. "I-I can't authorise it," he said quietly. "There are regulations-."

"But the wellbeing of the patients always comes first," Perry interrupted. "Isn't that part of the oath you take when you join OWCA as a doctor? If there's a chance a patient can be saved, no matter how small it is or how many rules it breaks, then you have to at least try." Perry stared up at Apollo pleadingly. "Apollo, she is going to die if we don't try."

Apollo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Agent P."

Perry knew that if Apollo ever called him Agent P, it meant that the doctor was seriously unhappy with him, but he had no time to feel hurt. He watched as Apollo unhooked Naomi from the machines that weren't crucial to her survival and gently lowered her onto an animal-sized stretcher with an attached IV drip. "Go," Apollo said quietly, making eye contact with Perry. "Save her."

Perry nodded and wheeled the stretcher out of the room. As he rushed down the hall, he met Paris, who was just coming out of her room, the cast still on her foot. "Perry!"

"I'm taking Naomi to her pod," Perry said, carrying on past his sister.

However, Paris grabbed his wrist and forced him to stop. "I'm coming," she said determinedly.

"No you're not," snapped Perry. "You've got a broken ankle."

"So?" Paris snapped back. "I'm coming with you and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me."

"Why?" demanded Perry. "Why do you want to come so badly?"

"Naomi's death would destroy you, and I can't let that happen," Paris replied quietly. "I love you, Perry. You're the most important person in my life, INCLUDING Pascal. If Naomi dies, you will die inside, and that in turn will kill me. I can't let that happen."

Perry smiled tearfully at her. "Thank you, Paris."

Paris smiled back and took hold of the stretcher. "I'm right behind you."

…

Surprisingly, getting the stretcher to DEI was the easy part. It turned out that the stretcher fit nicely into the hovercar, so they flew there without any problem. When they reached the building, however, they saw Heinz Doofenshmirtz and Nate in there, working on some kind of ray together. Perry landed the hovercar on the balcony and wheeled the stretcher out, to the Doofenshmirtzes' astonishment.

"Perry the Platypus, you can't just barge in here like you own the place!" Heinz spluttered.

"Dad, shut up!" Nate snapped, concern in his gaze. "Perry, is Naomi okay?"

"She's in a coma," Perry explained worriedly. "I need to get her into her pod. Will it do any good?"

Nate glanced at his father, who huffed, "Theoretically, yes."

"That's good enough for me."

Perry and Paris wheeled the stretcher over to the pod, followed by a concerned Nate, who lifted Naomi into the pod so that Perry and Paris, who were both still injured, didn't have to. Heinz came over and began tapping on the pod's control panel until the pod began to glow. Perry and Paris stepped back in fear and hope, Paris's arm around Perry's shoulder.

 _Please…_

Eventually, the glowing stopped. Perry opened the pod quickly and lifted Naomi out. Colour had flooded back to her pale fur, which Perry took as a good sign. He lay her lower half down on the ground while clutching her shoulders and knelt on the ground. "Naomi…?"

Naomi's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Perry…?" she croaked.

Perry almost cried with happiness. He hugged Naomi tightly. "Oh, you're okay! I'm so glad you're okay! I love you, Naomi…"

Suddenly, he felt her shaking. Pulling back in alarm, he stared at her and found her eyes filling with tears. "Naomi?"

"How can you still love me after what I've done?" Naomi asked tearfully.

"Because it wasn't you," Perry replied firmly. "You weren't in control. Besides, you tried to save us, risking your own life. You were nearly killed."

There was a pause as Naomi inhaled shakily. "P-Perry…"

"I love you, Naomi. I really do," Perry said quietly.

"I-I don't deserve you," stammered Naomi.

"Stop thinking like that, Naomi. I've done some things that I'm not proud of too. Making mistakes is a part of life, and now you're free from Rodney's control."

Naomi broke down in tears. "But I-I can't even give you the family you deserve."

Perry frowned. "What? What are you talking about?"

"R-Rodney made me without the ability to produce and lay eggs," sobbed Naomi. "I'll never be able to have biological children, with you or anyone else."

Perry inhaled sharply, remembering Naomi's words when she described how Rodney created her: _"Anything that could consume time during a battle was eliminated."_

E.g. pregnancy. That was why Rodney wanted Naomi to be infertile. If she happened to be seduced during a mission, there would be the chance of pregnancy, and a baby would certainly matter much more than a mission. Eliminating the ability to lay eggs would certainly eliminate that problem.

Choosing his words carefully, he said, "That doesn't matter to me, Naomi. I'd rather be with the girl I love and have no children than be with someone I don't love and have children."

Naomi glanced up at him through her tears. "R-really?"

Perry cupped her chin and gently tilted her face up until they were looking directly at each other. "Don't you ever doubt it, Naomi."

Naomi almost choked on her tears. "I love you, Perry. And thank you."

"I love you too, Naomi. Will…will you be my mate?"

Naomi looked up at him, confusion in her expression. "Wh-what's a mate?"

Perry laughed, despite himself. "It…a mate is someone you love whom you stay with forever. It's basically the animal equivalent of a human marriage."

"Oh, Perry…!" gasped Naomi. "Y-you want to s-stay with me forever…?"

Perry nodded. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather be with forever."

Naomi leaned forwards and kissed Perry lovingly. Looking deep into his eyes, she said, "Yes. I-I WILL be your mate, Perry. I love you."

"I love you too."

…

 **This is NOT the end XD**


	21. Chapter 21

Paris was having a chat to Naomi and Perry was standing on the balcony when Heinz came out and stood next to him.

"I'm sorry for bursting in unannounced," Perry said quietly.

Heinz smirked. "Why are you apologising? A few summers ago, I'd be worried if you DIDN'T burst in here, most likely breaking a door or a wall on the way."

Perry laughed. "Yeah…I miss those days sometimes."

Heinz nodded. "Yeah," he sighed. "Me too. Things were a lot less complicated back then, huh, Perry the Platypus?"

"You're telling me…"

"Perry!" called Paris softly. "I'm going to take Naomi back to OWCA so Apollo can look her over. Are you coming?"

Perry glanced at Heinz. "I'm gonna go."

The evil scientist glanced down at him in alarm. "Wait, Perry the Platypus! There's something I have to tell you, and it…might take a while."

Perry hesitated. On one hand, he didn't want to leave Naomi alone. But on the other…he was intrigued as to what Heinz wanted to say. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was linked to Naomi in some way.

He turned to his sister, who was waiting next to Naomi. "You take her back," he said eventually. "I'll be over soon."

"Do you want me to leave you the hovercar?" Paris called.

Perry shook his head. "Nah, I have my jetpack. You take the car."

"Okay. See you."

"See you later."

Perry watched as Paris gently loaded Naomi into the hovercar and got into the driver's side. He made eye contact with Naomi as the car lifted off, then it was broken as Paris flew the hovercar over the balcony and out of sight.

"So what is it you wanted to tell me?" Perry asked.

"Scythe," Heinz said. "And enough."

Perry stared at him. "Excuse me…?"

"They're Naomi's trigger words," Heinz said blandly. "I reviewed footage of Naomi's training, and I noticed that those were the words Rodney always used to trigger her. He hid them in sentences, but I found them. "Scythe" was the word to put her in her killing trance, and "enough" was used to take her out of it."

Perry's head was reeling. He delved into his memories to confirm that this was true. Sure enough, for every time he had been around Naomi when she had been triggered, Rodney had mostly said "use your scythe" to trigger her on, and "that's enough" to trigger her off.

"I changed her programming," Heinz said suddenly, bringing Perry out of his thoughts. "I couldn't remove Rodney's voice from the list of voices that could control her, but I could add one."

Perry blinked, a lightbulb going off in his head. He himself had yelled, "Naomi, enough!" at the party, which had somehow turned Naomi back to normal. "Y-you made it so that my voice was able to trigger Naomi…?!"

Heinz nodded morosely. "It was the best I could do."

"Th-the best you could do?!" Perry repeated in disbelief. "Dude, that's one of the best things you could have done!"

Now it was Heinz's turn to blink. "What…?"

"You saved our lives! Mine, Victor's, Christina's, and Paris's! If I hadn't been able to snap Naomi out of her trance, she wouldn't have tried to save us. She took the brunt of the collapse and saved our lives," Perry said, remembering what Marika had said. "But she would never have done that if I had not been able to bring Naomi round. And I wouldn't have been able to do THAT if you hadn't done what you did!"

Perry hugged Heinz round his legs. "Thank you…"

Heinz started in surprise, before bending down and hugging his nemesis back. "No problem, Perry the Platypus. I did it for Naomi as much as for you. I needed you to save her."

"Save her?" Perry glanced up at Heinz in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"She was close to becoming a living machine," Heinz replied softly. "A living weapon, even. If you hadn't come along, she would have become one. If you hadn't tried so hard to get to know her, she would have become one. I care for Naomi a lot. Ignoring Rodney for a minute, I created her. I felt like she was my adoptive daughter. I couldn't stand seeing an innocent platypus be denied the chance for love and a normal life. Perry the Platypus…I knew you could give her both, so long as you could get through to her." He smiled weakly. "So long as you could save her, Perry the Platypus."

Perry stared down at the ground, unsure of what to say. "I…I can give her both," he said quietly. "I'm already giving her my love. And I want to do my best to give her a normal life; whether or not she can have kids is no consequence."

Heinz's smile broadened. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that, Perry the Platypus."

Perry smiled back. "I think it's as much as it makes me happy to say it, Heinz."


	22. Chapter 22

"Are you sure about this, Christina?" Victor asked nervously, staring at the metal leg braces that Christina was holding.

"Yes," Christina replied softly. "These will help you walk again, Victor. And I will be here with you every step of the way." She paused, and decided to attempt some humour. "Figuratively AND literally."

To her relief, Victor let out a short laugh. "O-okay, I'll try…"

Victor peeled back the covers of his hospital bed, exposing his now-free legs, and stayed still while Christina fastened the thing to his lower back and legs. "Th-this feels weird," he stammered.

"It will," Christina said gently. "I know it will, but you'll forget about it in a while, okay?"

Victor slowly nodded. "Is it…on…?"

"Yes." Christina gently took hold of Victor's shoulders and helped him sit up. "I'm here, okay? I'm here for you. I'll be helping you."

Victor nodded again and allowed Christina to swing his legs over the side of the bed. His feet were just touching the floor. Taking a deep breath, Victor slid off the bed.

Immediately, he felt himself fall forwards, but Christina was there, providing her strong back for Victor to lean on. He inhaled sharply. "I c-can't do this…" he whimpered.

Christina moved gently until she was able to catch Victor in her arms. "You can," she said firmly. "It won't be perfect on the first try, but I'm here to help you, okay?"

"Okay…"

Christina stepped forwards, which began a small tug on Victor's arms, one he would only be able to get rid of if he stepped forwards to meet her. Taking another deep breath, Victor tried to move his right leg.

Nothing.

In a panic, he tried again.

Nothing.

"It won't move!" he screamed, terrified. "I can't walk! I CAN'T WALK!"

"Hey, hey!" Christina stroked his shoulder soothingly until the otter calmed down. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here, okay? Just keep trying. You can't give up now."

With Christina's encouraging words running through his mind, Victor narrowed his eyes and concentrated so hard that he felt his forehead begin to glisten with sweat.

 _Come on…you can do it. Walk. WALK._

"IT MOVED!" shrieked Victor. "M-my foot moved!"

"That's it!" Christina encouraged. "Keep going!"

With more and more concentration, Victor was able to make his foot shuffle forwards until it was in line with Christina.

"Good, good!" Christina was beaming. "Now the other foot."

A few seconds later, Victor managed to bring his foot off the ground and put it down past the other one.

He had taken a step.

He was paralysed, but he had taken a step.

"I-I did it…" whispered Victor, tears glistening in his eyes. "I-I'm walking…!"

"Keep going," urged Christina. "Let's try and walk around the room!"

By the end of that hour, Victor managed to walk an entire lap around the small hospital room. He sat down heavily on the floor, stretching out his legs and leaning against the wall, feeling sweat drenching his entire body. His chest was heaving as he leant back and closed his eyes.

"Victor, are you okay?" Christina asked worriedly, sitting down next to him.

Without opening his eyes, an automatic smile spread over the otter's face. "A few hours ago, I was told I would never walk again. A few minutes ago, I walked around the entirety of this room. Sure, my body isn't feeling the best, but I feel on top of the world right now."

Christina smiled. "As do I, just from being in your company."

Victor's eyes opened, and he glanced sideways at Christina, who dropped her gaze to the ground, her smile disappearing. "Victor, I…I really can't apologise enough for the things I said to you. I overreacted SO much…I shouldn't have held the grudge for as long as I did. The truth is…I'm guilty of doing the exact same thing to you as you did to me."

"Oh?" Victor was intrigued. And at the same time, terrified.

"I think the reason I didn't forgive you sooner was because…I knew you'd keep coming back to me. I basically kept you on the hook because it…it felt good to have you begging for my attention. And I know that's BEYOND awful, but…I couldn't help it." Tears came to Christina's eyes. "Part of me wanted to treat you as I felt you had treated me, b-but…most of me thought that I didn't have to forgive you because I knew you'd always be there." Her voice became shrill. "I'm so sorry, Victor!" she wailed, burying her face in her paws. "I'm a horrible person! I-I took away your basic rights, and I-I'm so sorry!" She began sobbing, tears soaking the fur on her paws.

Victor hesitated a moment, before reaching out and gently pulling Christina into a hug. "I started this mess," he said quietly. "It's my fault."

"But I made it worse," cried Christina.

"Then we're even," Victor said firmly, in a tone of voice that clearly said he wasn't going to tolerate arguments on this. "Besides…I could never stay angry with you for long."

Christina sniffled, wiping away her tears. She glanced up at Victor. "Wh-why?"

Victor inhaled deeply. This was it. "B-because I love you, Christina."

Apparently, whatever Christina had been expecting, it wasn't this. She stared at Victor in shock, her heart skipping several beats. "You…wh-wh-what…?!"

"I've loved you for a long time," Victor said quietly. "That's why I cared so much that you were going to the OWCA party with Terry. I spent too long working up the perfect way to ask you to the party that…that someone else asked you. I never meant to imply that you were mine to go to the party with. I just…I was so disappointed that someone else had asked you before I could."

"Oh, Victor…!" whispered Christina.

Victor didn't dare look at her. He didn't want to see her facial expression, which was sure to be filled with pity.

"I…I love you too, Victor."

Now it was Victor's turn to stare at Christina in shock. His own heart was flipping around inside his chest.

"I've also loved you for a long time," Christina confessed. "That's why I reacted the way I did when you said I couldn't go to the party with Terry. I was already hurt that you hadn't asked me already…and no offense to Terry, but…that may have been the only reason I agreed to go with him."

"R-really?!"

Christina nodded morosely. "I know love isn't an excuse for the way I've acted, but…I hope it's not too late to have a future with you, if you want it."

Victor paused. "Love CAN be an excuse," he said eventually. "Love makes people do crazy things. And…I don't want it to be too late for a future together. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I-I want that too."

Victor hesitated. "Christina, w-will you…be my mate?"

Christina didn't even hesitate. She nodded her head frantically. "Yes, Victor! Of-of course I will!"

Christina was the one to make the first move. She closed her eyes and leaned in, hoping Victor would do the same. The otter smiled. Kissing Christina was something he'd wanted to do for who knows how long. He leant into meet her, his eyes also closed, and their lips met.

Christina relaxed into the kiss, putting her arms around Victor's waist to pull him gently closer. Victor placed his paws on Christina's cheeks, also keeping her close.

Neither of them wanted to let the other go.

...

"Noooooo...!" moaned Naomi. "Don't make me do it! Please! I want to be free!"

"Naomi?" Paris's voice was distant.

"Kill them," came Rodney's voice. "Use your scythe."


	23. Chapter 23

A piercing scream caused Victor and Christina to break apart with a jerk, jostling Victor's legs. "Wh-what was that?!" Victor gasped fearfully.

"Stay there," Christina urged him. "I'll go and see."

She slowly got to her feet and headed to the door. Opening it, she peered down the corridor. Immediately, Tess the Toller came rushing past her into the room, diving onto the bed in a panic. "T-Tess, what the-?!" spluttered Christina, leaving the door to close as she ran over to the bed.

"P-P-Perry's girl," cried Tess in terror. "Th-the one who a-a-attacked us at the p-p-p-party. Sh-she's g-gone crazy again!"

Christina gasped, but before she could ask Tess for any more details, the door to the hospital room flew open so hard that it was flung off its hinges. Victor screamed and pushed himself down to avoid the spinning door.

Christina stared at Naomi as she robotically entered through the gap, her scythe in her hands. Her eyes were red, just as they had been at the party.

"N-Naomi, don't you remember me?" Christina asked desperately. "It-it's Christina!"

Naomi paused, deliberating something, before charging towards the defenceless Victor. Christina leapt in front of him and kicked Naomi away from the otter. "Naomi, please!" Christina screamed. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Down the hall, Pinky the Chihuahua heard the screaming and came running. He burst through the empty doorway in time to see Naomi and Christina fighting aggressively in the middle of the room. Victor had crawled into the corner of the room to hide, while Tess was wrapped up in the bedsheets, terrified.

All of a sudden, Naomi kicked Christina viciously into the wall, dazing the bobcat. As the platypus prepared to strike, Pinky screamed and threw himself in front of Christina, intending to push or kick Naomi away from her, but he timed it wrong.

Naomi's scythe struck Pinky through the chest.

Tess began screaming and didn't stop screaming. Victor could only stare in shock, horror, and grief. Christina opened her fuzzy eyes just in time to see Pinky's limp body hit the ground. Tess's piercing screaming was giving her a headache and making it hard for her to think, but Christina could put together what had just happened. She managed to crawl over to Victor, who was nearby, and helped him to his feet. "We have to get out of here," she croaked.

Tess suddenly leapt down from the hospital bed and landed on top of Naomi, clutching her back. The angry platypus began spinning and bucking, trying to get her off.

"GO!" Tess screamed hoarsely. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

Neither Christina nor Victor wanted to leave another of their friends to die, but they had no choice if they wanted to get out of there alive. With Christina helping Victor along, the bobcat and the otter ran out of the room.

Seeing that Victor and Christina were safe, Tess allowed herself to be thrown off Naomi's back. She landed right next to Pinky's still body. Stifling another bout of screaming, Tess took hold of the Chihuahua's paw.

"I love you, Pinky," she whispered, tears falling down her face. "Soon, I will be with you again."

…

Perry was running down the hallway. He had arrived at the hospital a few minutes ago and, upon hearing screaming, had gone running to find out what was going on.

He found the hovercar immediately. His sister, Paris, was lying unconscious beside it. His heart freezing, he ran up to Paris and gently shook her. "Paris!" he cried.

Paris's eyes slowly opened. "P-Perry…?" she slurred.

"Are you okay? What happened?!"

"N-Naomi…" murmured Paris groggily. "She…started muttering to herself…then she hit me…"

"Oh no…!" whispered Perry. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

He regretfully left his twin's side and raced into the ward, grabbing a gun from the weapons stockroom as he did. As he ran towards Victor and Christina's room, he heard a horrible slicing sound and a piercing wail, then it was all over.

His heart growing cold, Perry burst into the hospital room, clutching his gun. He took one look at the two bodies on the ground—the dead bodies of Pinky and Tess—and felt grief almost overwhelm him, but he forced himself to look directly into Naomi's eyes.

"Naomi, enough!" he said firmly.

But nothing happened. Perry tried again, but Naomi's red eyes did not fade. He could almost hear Rodney's sneering voice in his head, saying, _"Nice try, platypus."_

"I am strong now," Naomi hissed, in a voice that sounded twisted and warped from her normal, beautiful voice. "I only serve my master, Professor von Roddenstein. You cannot control me."

"Naomi, please…" Tears flooded into Perry's eyes. "You-you just killed two of my close friends. Y-you're going to continue unless you stop. R-remember me, please. Just an hour ago, we became mates. We said we loved each other. I said I wanted to be with you forever. I said I'd always love you. But…I c-can't if you don't snap out of it!"

Naomi's eyes were narrowed. They continued to be red. She leapt forwards with her scythe.

In that split second, Perry had several seconds' worth of thinking.

Naomi could never be truly free. He knew that now. Not even Heinz could take away Rodney's programming, so what chance did Perry have? Rodney would continue to make her attack and kill people; of that, Perry was certain.

He had no choice. He couldn't let poor Naomi continue on the path she was on. It wasn't right. He just…he couldn't allow her to become any more of a monster.

Reacting with the trained skills of an OWCA agent, Perry lifted the gun and locked eyes with Naomi. As he fired, he almost physically felt the bullet pierce her chest. At the exact same moment, he felt his own heart shatter into a million tiny little pieces. He watched Naomi fall to the ground, her bloodied scythe falling next to her with a clang. Perry stared at her body in grief and horror at what he had done.

He'd never be able to believe that he had just shot his own mate.


	24. Chapter 24

It was the day of Pinky and Tess's funeral, just a week after they had died. Perry really didn't want to attend, but he made himself walk to the chapel. Not only had he volunteered to read a eulogy, but this was the final time he was ever going to see his friends. He'd regret it later if he didn't go.

Along with Victor and Christina, he made his way to the chapel. He was indescribably glad that Victor was able to walk again, but that joy was severely overshadowed today by the grief and pain he felt.

He glanced at his two best friends, and saw Christina gently helping Victor along. The otter had gotten a lot better at walking by himself, but on a day where he was blinded by grief, he needed the extra support. Christina wasn't much better. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was also having trouble walking.

They were able to get through the first part of the funeral mostly okay, but when Perry stepped up to say a few words, he almost broke down. Standing behind the wooden lectern, he inhaled deeply.

"During my entire OWCA career, I've only ever had five friends. One of them is my sister…" Perry hesitated, seeing that Paris was not in the chapel. "Two of them are Victor and Christina." He gestured down to the bobcat and the otter, who were sitting in the front row. They both gave him a weak smile. "A-and…t-two of them…" He inhaled shakily. "T-two of them were P-Pinky and Tess."

Christina clutched Victor's paw tightly for support.

"They've always had my back," Perry continued, his voice cracking. "Always. No matter what I needed, they were there. P-Pinky was always there to listen and give advice. Tess…Tess was so full of life and energy." The platypus's voice broke completely. "I-I'm always going t-to miss them…"

He had only gotten through half of his speech, but he knew he couldn't continue. He lost his composure and broke down in tears, clutching the lectern tightly to keep himself from collapsing. Christina quickly left her seat and ran up to the lectern. She gently prised Perry's hands off the lectern and helped him down to his seat, where she gently put him down between herself and Victor, so that both of them could wrap their arms around him.

Pinky's parents, whom nobody had ever seen before, also said some words, and so did Tess's mother, who nobody had seen in years. While the latter was doing her speech, Perry felt faint from dehydration because of all the tears he had cried. He got slowly to his feet, mumbled an excuse to Christina and Victor, and stumbled towards the exit.

As he got out into the sunshine, he made his way back over to the main OWCA building. Blinking fresh tears out of his eyes, he stumbled over to the bench outside the building and collapsed onto it, leaning on the armrest. For however long it was, he rested his head on his arms and sobbed.

If he had only been a little quicker…if he had just sped up that little bit more…maybe he could have stopped this. Maybe he could have prevented their deaths. Maybe he could have stopped Naomi…

Thinking about Naomi was a fresh kind of pain that he really didn't want to inflict on himself. The gunshot and the agonising gasp of pain that she had emitted had haunted his dreams and thoughts ever since it had happened.

How had it already been a week since he had lost the person he loved most?

"Perry…" came a soft voice.

Perry looked up through his blurry eyes and blinked until the fuzzy shape of his twin sister swam into view. "Hi, Paris," he croaked.

Paris sat down next to her brother and gathered him in her arms, holding him tightly.

"I wish I could have killed Rodney," choked Perry. "I wish killing Rodney would have freed Naomi."

"Why wouldn't it?" Paris asked. After all, surely Naomi would have been free had there been nobody to control her?

"Because her killing trance was actually the "mode" she was made in," Perry replied dully. "Had I killed Rodney, she would have remained in that killing trance forever, regardless of who else's voices were on the list. I-if Rodney couldn't control her…nobody could."

"Oh, Perry…" Paris closed her eyes and began stroking her shaking twin's shoulder.

Perry wiped the tears from his eyes and glanced at his sister. Something struck him instantly. "Paris…have you lost a lot of weight?"

Paris hesitated. "Why…do you ask…?"

"Well, a week or so ago, you seemed to be a lot…no offense…fatter."

"No, it's fine…" Paris hesitated again, before getting up and reaching under the bench.

Perry watched in astonishment as Paris brought out a fairly large white egg. It was twice, perhaps even three times, the size of a normal platypus egg. Perry couldn't even tell if it WAS a platypus egg.

"Wh-what is that…?!"

"It's my and Pascal's kid," Paris said softly. "But I…I can't raise it. I never wanted a kid. I can't be an OWCA agent AND raise a kid at the same time, and Pascal's made it clear that he wants nothing to do with a kid. That's why I broke up with him."

"You what?!"

"He said he was willing to stay with me no matter what, but that clearly wasn't true," Paris said bitterly. "That's not the point, though. The point is that I can't raise this kid, and that's not fair on the poor child." Her pleading gaze fell on her twin brother. "P-please can YOU raise it?"

Perry stared at her. "Wh-what?! ME?!"

Paris nodded pleadingly. "Y-yes. I know it's a horrible thing to ask you to do, especially since it's been such a short time since…well…Naomi, but…I really need your help, bro. I-I can't bear seeing anyone else-."

"I'll help you," Perry said, before he could change his mind.

"Y-y-you'll wh-what…?!"

"I-I can't raise the kid," Perry said regretfully. "Not without it reminding me of Naomi. But I can at least take the egg and find it a suitable parent."

"Would you?" Paris gasped gratefully. "Oh, thank you!"

She gently handed the egg to Perry, who cradled it gingerly.

Before he could inspect it, he spotted Apollo coming running up to him. His facial expression told Perry that the doctor was in a hurry. Apollo stopped next to Perry, panting hard. "Perry…I did it…I saved Naomi…"

"WHAT?!" Perry shrieked. "HOW?!"

"I'll explain on the way," Apollo said, tugging Perry's arm. "But…something went wrong…she-she…w-well, just come and see for yourself."


	25. Chapter 25

Perry ran all the way to the medical bay. He was way ahead of Apollo, despite the doctor's promise to "explain on the way". Perry wasn't daring to hope. Could Naomi really be alive…? But something had gone wrong…? What could it be?

Bursting into the medical bay, Perry immediately spotted a pink platypus sitting propped up in one of the beds, reading a bikk. "Naomi!" he called joyfully, his heart swelling like a balloon.

He ran down the length of the hospital wing, ready to hug her tightly—regardless of the egg in his hands—but he stopped when he saw the confused look Naomi was giving him. "Should I know you?"

Those four words felt like a knife in Perry's chest. He stared at her in horror. "I-I'm Perry. Don't you remember me?"

"Hi, Perry!" Naomi beamed. "I'm Naomi. Nice to meet you!"

 _M-MEET you?!_

Perry slowly backed away until he bumped into Apollo, who was standing in the middle of the room, gazing sadly at Naomi. "That's what went wrong," he said quietly. "To save her life, I had to almost completely destroy her programming. That means she can no longer be controlled and she is no longer affected by the killing trance…" Apollo hesitated. "But the part of her brain that housed those two trigger words was also the part of the brain associated with memory. So…"

"You saved her life but wiped her memory," Perry finished numbly. "So she's alive but she has no idea who I am. Or that we were in love…or that we were mates…"

"I'm so sorry, Perry," whispered Apollo, his eyes filling with tears. "Th-there was no other way."

"No, don't apologise," Perry said. "You not only saved her life, but you also gave her the opportunity to live as a normal platypus. From here, she can go wherever she wants or stay at OWCA. You-you gave her freedom, Apollo. And that's exactly what I wished for her. Thank you."

"I only wish I could have done more," Apollo said quietly. "So what will you do?"

"I…" Perry hesitated. "I don't know. I don't want to force her to remember me, but…perhaps the memory of me is still there, somehow. I think I'll talk to her a bit, see if she remembers anything."

Apollo nodded. "Good luck, Perry."

Perry anxiously made his way back over to Naomi, who had resumed reading her book. She looked up and smiled as he approached. "Hi! Perry, was it?"

Perry nodded. "Yeah, hi. So where do you come from?"

Naomi frowned. "You know…I don't really know. I just woke up here a couple of hours ago. I don't remember anything about my early life." She hesitated. "That nice doctor Apollo told me some basic stuff about me, including…" She hesitated. "Including the fact that I can't physically have children. That hurt quite a bit, since I've always wanted to have a child, but I think I'm coming to terms with it now."

Perry nodded slowly. "And you don't recognise me at all?"

"No," Naomi said apologetically. "Sorry. Did we know each other?"

Perry hesitated, wondering how much to tell her. "Briefly," he replied eventually. "Not-not very well, though."

"Oh, okay." Naomi glanced down at his hands. "Hey, what have you got there?"

"It's…" Perry looked down at his own hands, remembering for the first time that he was still carrying his sister's egg. "It's an egg. It's my sisters, but she can't raise it."

"Oh, that's a shame." Naomi frowned. "So you're raising it?"

"No, I…I'm helping her find someone who can."

At that moment, a wild idea came into Perry's head. He simultaneously loved AND hated it, but the former trumped the latter, and he decided to go for it. He gently placed the egg in Naomi's hands. "Y-you can raise it."

Naomi blinked in shock. "What?!"

"You said you've always wanted kids, right? Well, this egg might contain twins or even triplets. It or they will need someone to look after it or them. A mother. Will you be this egg's mother?"

Naomi's eyes glistened with tears. "Th-thank you, Perry! Of course I will! Thank you so much!" She gently stroked the top of the egg, looking tenderly down at it. Clearly, Rodney had not been able to prevent Naomi from getting natural motherly instincts.

Perry smiled weakly and quietly left her alone. Going out into the hallway, Perry spotted Paris standing a little way down. He approached her slowly.

"What happened with Naomi?" Paris asked eagerly.

Perry numbly explained everything Apollo had told him.

"Oh…I'm so sorry, Perry." Paris hesitated. "Where's the egg?" she asked. "Did you find a parent?"

Perry nodded numbly. "Naomi."

Paris gasped sharply and her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Perry…! You-you gave Naomi the egg?"

Perry nodded again. "I figured…she's always wanted to be a mother, and being resurrected hasn't changed the fact that she can't have kids. I thought it would be kind to give her the family she's always wanted."

"That IS kind," Paris whispered. "But you're…not sticking around to help with the kid?"

"No." Perry shook his head. "There's no point. Naomi doesn't even remember me, let alone the fact that we were mates, and it's not fair of me to be the only reminder of her previous life."

Paris hesitated. "So what are you going to do now?"

Perry gave a weak shrug. "I think I'll go to Australia. Maybe become an agent for the Australian branch of OWCA."

"So far away?" Paris asked quietly.

"There are too many bad memories here," Perry said, matching her volume. "Pinky, Tess, Naomi. It just…it all hurts so much, and I can't stay here when every day I come here just reminds me of them."

Paris nodded tearfully. "I-I understand. But…I'm gonna miss you."

Perry took his twin sister into a hug. "I'll miss you too, Paris."

They held onto each other for several minutes, finding comfort with each other.

Both of their love stories were over, and neither of them had the ending they were hoping for.

…

 **Love Story is finally finished! :D: XD Thanks for reading!**


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